The strategic layer (see: Strategy Layer) spawns
and drives two distinct dimensions in the
enterprise.
The first dimension is that of operational process. The operational processes include all the
processes necessary for the achievement of the business strategy and the supporting processes
necessary for the success of the operational processes.
The second dimension is that of projects. Projects are launched in order to:
- Engineer and implement new processes
- Improve existing processes
- Find and close gaps in process definition and execution
- Implement technology systems to support processes
Many other reasons may exist for launching projects but it is almost always related to the
alignment of the enterprise’s strategy with the business and technology processes that support that
strategy.
Figure 1: Strategy Layer to Process/Project
As these processes and projects are executed it creates a feedback loop to the strategy that
indicates to the enterprise on how the strategy should be tailored based on the process and project
feedback.
The business layer is described using a series of business components. The following diagram
shows business components that should be considered when the business layer is described.
Figure 2: The business layer
A combination of strategy and the potential use of base practices drive the value chain of the
enterprise. Base practices are practices that are deemed to be generally accepted practices that
may be applied as a standard in the industry the enterprise is active in. They may be used for
creating a basis for operational processes or to standardize current processes.
A value chain consists of a sequence of primary and secondary activities an enterprise performs in
order to deliver a product or service that adds value to customers.
Primary activities are those activities that transform inputs to outputs, expose those outputs to the
market and by the nature of their execution directly add value to the customer, or the enterprise.
The primary activities are normally closely associated with the distinctive capabilities of the
enterprise.
Secondary activities are those activities that support the execution of primary activities. The
secondary activities are normally closely associated with reproducible capabilities.
In defining enterprise architecture it is important to create model views of the primary and
secondary activities. The following views describe the types of models that should be present:
Business Systems Architecture View
The business systems architecture view focuses on business as perceived from the business
execution point of view. This means that the business systems architecture view describes the
business as the business process participant sees and experiences it.
The business systems architecture view includes the three dimensions of function, structure and
behaviour:
Figure 3: Architectural View Dimensions
The functional dimension describes the business functions as it is executed in the business. The
business functions are depicted with the business roles that are responsible for the execution of
those functions.
The structure dimension describes all of the business entities and the relationships between the
business entities. It also elaborates on the roles that the business entities will play in the
relationships with each other.
The behavioural dimension describes workflow and lifecycles of practices and business entities in
the enterprise.
Technology Systems Architecture View
The technology systems architecture view focuses on technology systems as it would support
business execution. The technology systems architecture view may contain several models layers.
They are:
- Requirements (analysis) – The requirements-, or analysis model focuses on systems as
perceived from the point of view of how business is executed on the system. This model is
typically used to describe the requirements a prospective technology systems user may have
of a system. This model is normally platform and technology independent and may be used as
the formal requirements specification.
- Design – The design model that focuses on the design of the technology system in order to
meet the requirements as specified in the requirements model. The design models are
normally platform and technology specific. If the prospective system is to be deployed on
multiple different platforms, a platform and technology independent design model may exist
together with a series of platform and technology specific design models. The design view may
contain specific layers that focus on logical and physical design.
The technology systems architecture view also includes the three dimensions of function, structure
and behaviour.
The functional dimension will describe all of the technology system functions as it is executed in the
support of the business. The technology system functions are depicted with the technology system
roles that are responsible for the execution of those technology system functions.
The structure dimension describes all of the technology system entities and the relationships
between the technology system entities. It also elaborates on the roles that the technology system
entities will play in the relationships with each other.
The behavioural dimension describes workflow and lifecycles of practices and technology system
entities in the prospective technology system.
