Member-only story
The First Question of Business Architecture
It’s not “What is your business capability map?”
Are you a business architect or striving to become one? An experienced business analyst exploring business architecture as the next step in the career? A consultant that was asked to “help set up our business architecture”?
You may have practiced creating capability maps and facilitating value chain workshops, cataloguing business processes and mapping requirements to strategic goals, but…
How do you start? What should be your first question to your new client, the logical start to your business architecture engagement?
“Do you have a business capability map?”
“What are your strategic goals?” or
“Which architecture notation would you like me to use?”
Good questions, but that should come later.
You need to start with:
Tell me how your business makes money.
Businesses exist to create value that can be exchanged for money. Money comes from selling products, charging fees for services, shareholder contributions, donations, or public funding. To understand the organization as an architect, you have to first understand its business model.
