TL;DR
Phase B follows a gap analysis approach: choose the modeling approach, develop baseline and target Business Architectures, identify gaps, define candidate Architecture Roadmap components, resolve impacts, secure stakeholder approval, and document the result in the Architecture Definition Document.
Step-by-step flow
flowchart TD S1["Select reference models, viewpoints, and tools"] --> S2["Develop baseline Business Architecture"] S2 --> S3["Develop target Business Architecture"] S3 --> S4["Perform gap analysis"] S4 --> S5["Define candidate Architecture Roadmap components"] S5 --> S6["Resolve impacts across the Architecture Landscape"] S6 --> S7["Conduct stakeholder review"] S7 --> S8["Finalize Business Architecture"] S8 --> S9["Update Architecture Definition Document"]
1) Select reference models, viewpoints, and tools
Start by choosing how the Business Architecture will be described, modeled, captured, and analyzed.
Useful questions:
- Which stakeholders and concerns must this architecture address?
- What information is needed to answer those concerns?
- How will that information be modeled and represented?
- Which reference models or industry standards can be reused?
- What useful content already exists in the Architecture Repository or Architecture Landscape?
- What information is missing?
The point is to collect only what is useful. Reuse existing architecture content where possible instead of rebuilding everything from scratch.
2) Develop the baseline Business Architecture
Describe the current business architecture only to the level needed for alignment and gap analysis.
The baseline should make the current state clear enough to answer questions such as:
- which business capabilities, processes, roles, and services exist today?
- where are the current pain points or constraints?
- which parts of the business are inside the architecture scope?
- what must be traced because it will change?
Avoid excessive detail. The baseline is useful when it helps stakeholders agree on the current state and understand what needs to change.
3) Develop the target Business Architecture
Describe the future business architecture required to support the agreed Architecture Vision.
Use the same modeling technique and the same level of detail used for the baseline. This makes comparison easier and reduces the chance that gaps are missed because the two views were modeled differently.
Focus on the parts of the Architecture Landscape that will change or need traceability.
4) Perform gap analysis
Compare the baseline and target Business Architectures to identify what is missing, changed, removed, or no longer fit for purpose. See Gap Analysis for the reusable ADM technique.
Gap analysis should identify:
- capabilities or processes that must be added
- existing elements that must change
- duplicated or redundant elements
- business services, roles, or information flows that are missing
- constraints or dependencies that affect the target
The goal is not to create a perfect catalog of everything. The goal is to understand the changes needed to move from the current business state to the target business state.
5) Define candidate Architecture Roadmap components
Once the gaps are understood, define the candidate Architecture Roadmap components needed to close them.
This step answers:
- what work is needed to reach the target?
- which changes should happen first?
- which changes deliver the most business value?
- what cost, effort, and risk are attached to each change?
The enterprise architect must guard value. A target architecture only makes sense if the expected benefit justifies the cost and difficulty of change.
6) Resolve impacts across the Architecture Landscape
Changing one architecture area can affect other architectures, transition states, implementation projects, and enterprise risks.
Check for impact against:
- existing architectures
- other candidate architectures
- transition architectures and target states
- planned and in-progress implementation projects
- enterprise risks and dependencies
Useful questions:
- Does this Business Architecture affect any existing architecture?
- Have recent changes affected the assumptions behind this architecture?
- Can work from this architecture be reused elsewhere?
- Does this architecture affect other planned or active projects?
- Will other projects affect this architecture?
- Does the impact add cost, risk, or delivery complexity?
- Does the change make any existing process, system, or service stop working?
This is one of the harder parts of enterprise architecture work. It depends on a usable Architecture Repository and enough analysis to see cross-landscape effects.
Keep the information volume under control. Track the minimum set of concerns that visibly supports value for the key stakeholders.
7) Conduct formal stakeholder review
Review the baseline, target, gap analysis, candidate Architecture Roadmap components, and landscape impacts with the relevant stakeholders.
Approval matters. Without stakeholder approval, the target architecture is only a documented opinion. Governance and implementation governance need an agreed target architecture to work from.
This review is also where trade-offs become explicit:
- options
- costs
- benefits
- risks
- stakeholder preferences
- delivery constraints
Use architecture trade-off thinking to help stakeholders reach a workable compromise and choose the best path forward.
8) Finalize the Business Architecture
After review, incorporate agreed feedback and finalize the Business Architecture.
The final version should be clear enough for Phases C and D to align data, application, and technology architecture to business needs.
9) Update the Architecture Definition Document
Document the Business Architecture content in the Architecture Definition Document.
This includes the relevant artifacts, baseline and target views, gap analysis, impact assessment, and decisions agreed during stakeholder review.
Pattern across Phases B, C, and D
The same basic pattern applies across the domain architecture phases:
- Phase B: Business Architecture
- Phase C: Information Systems Architecture
- Phase D: Technology Architecture
In each phase, you develop baseline and target architecture, perform gap analysis, identify candidate roadmap components, review impacts, and secure stakeholder agreement.
Exam note
- Phase B develops the Business Architecture to support the agreed Architecture Vision.
- The phase uses a baseline-to-target gap approach.
- Baseline and target views should use the same technique and level of detail.
- Candidate Architecture Roadmap components describe the work needed to close gaps.
- Stakeholder approval turns the target architecture from a documented view into an agreed direction for governance and implementation planning.