System Transformation Portal

Defining the Role of the Business Architect
By William Ulrich

As business architecture initiatives continue to take hold, executives are seeking to clarify the role of the business architect. It is important to understand the diversity of roles within core and virtual business architecture teams. Defining these roles will help ensure the successful deployment of business architecture initiatives.

Business Architecture: State of the Practice

To understand the role of the business architect, we must consider business architecture in practice. Many organizations are still forming business architecture teams. In addition, business architects tend to be organizational orphans that report to IT or segregated business units. As a result, the role of the business architect has been heavily impacted by narrowly defined special interests.

Business architecture is, by its very nature, a holistic endeavor. As a result, business architects must be able to look over and beyond functional silos. To accomplish this, business architects must either reside in or collaborate closely with a business architecture unit that has cross-functional visibility of governance structures, business semantics and value streams.[1]

Unfortunately, the degree of maturity of business architecture in practice has limited the ability of the business architect to visualize and align cross-functional, cross-disciplinary views of the enterprise. Clear, concise role definitions will facilitate a holistic approach to business architecture initiatives.

Who is the Business Architect?

The business architect is a business professional that facilitates cross-functional, cross-disciplinary alignment of governance structures, business semantics and business value streams. Clearly this is not a glorified business modeler or converted IT analyst.

Business architects must additionally have certain skills. First and foremost, they must have knowledge of the business. They must be able to think and communicate in a structured way regarding issues relating to governance, business semantics and business processes that cross organizational silos. In addition, business architects must be able to collaborate and communicate with front-line users, business analysts, management, other architects and IT.

The business architect is not just one role, but a combination of roles. The business architect is defined by specialties that arise from being part of a core business architecture team or part of a virtual team. The business architecture center of excellence serves as the central coordination and collaboration point for core and virtual business architects.[2]

Core Business Architecture Roles

Core business architecture roles serve as the foundation for the business architecture center of excellence. This includes the following core business architecture roles.

        Methods and Framework Analyst:

Business architecture frameworks vary and are still undergoing standardization. This individual refines and socializes the adopted framework so that it can be applied to the unique business requirements of a given organization.

         Collaborative Governance Specialist:

Governance is the elephant in the room that impedes numerous business and IT initiatives. The governance specialist must be able to expose existing governance structures, recommend collaborative alignment options to executives and facilitate efforts to achieve these goals.

       Business Semantics Analyst:

The synchronization of business terms is essential to cross-functional value stream, business rule and data architecture alignment. This individual plays a key role in the alignment of business semantics.

        Value Stream Analyst:

This analyst works with business process modeling teams to ensure that value streams are extended across organizational silos and seeks to align redundant or overlapping business processes.

       Tooling Support Analyst:

This individual works with IT to ensure that business architecture modeling tools and technologies are aligned with the framework and can be deployed as required.

         Business / IT Alignment Specialist:

Business / IT architecture alignment is an essential role that should be filled by someone with a business-driven view of the enterprise, but with knowledge of IT architecture.

Virtual Business Architecture Roles

Virtual business architects reside in various business units but rotate through the business architecture center of excellence. Virtual business architects also include third party and IT representation as required by various initiatives. Virtual business architect roles include:

         Business Unit Business Architect:

Individuals in this role coordinate and synchronize business architecture efforts within one business unit with cross-functional business architecture initiatives.

         Return-on-Investment Analysts:

ROI is required for the overall business architecture program as well as for business unit-specific initiatives. These individuals utilize ROI models to synchronize business unit projects with cross-functional alignment initiatives.

      Rapid Response Coordinator:

Rapid response teams are collaborative teams that form ad hoc solutions to front-line user requirements through ROI driven initiatives that can be delivered in relativity short timeframes. The rapid response coordinator ensures that these initiatives are synchronized from a business architecture perspective.

         Virtual IT Architect:

These individuals ensure that IT architecture blueprints and initiatives remain synchronized with business architectural blueprints and initiatives.

Defining the roles played by business architects within an organization is an important step in ensuring that business architecture initiatives start off and continue on the right track.