Implementing a Business Architecture Group^[i]

The chief executive often performs the work of the Business Architect within small companies.  The chief executive of mid-sized companies may rely on one or several persons on staff to provide them with Business Architecture support supplemented by external management consulting firms.

Large organizations are beginning to form Business Architecture Groups as a way of providing comprehensive services to their organizations. These groups should be comprised of a combination of skilled consultants and employees who bring with them a granular knowledge of the needs and concerns of their functional areas, as well as the relationships necessary to get things done.

These groups can be assembled quickly and effectively.  Business Architecture Groups should adhere to the following:

Reporting

The speed of change in competitive marketplaces is accelerating, complexity is increasing and the tolerance for errors is getting smaller. Business Architects must respond quickly and comprehensively to these changes, often calling on subject matter experts from throughout the organization to develop solutions that require immediate corporation-wide implementation.

The Business Architecture Group greatly benefit from access to executive authority (typically the CEO, COO or Executive Vice President) to call on these experts and implement these solutions.

Governance

The Business Architecture Group is ideally governed by an independent Business Architecture Governance Board comprised of representatives of various parts of the organization. The Board should meet on a regular basis, review the status report of the Business Architecture Group and discuss the program, how it can be improved, challenges and how they can assist. A Business Architecture Governance Board substantially reduces the time commitment of the executive to which the Business Architecture Group reports, while engaging the functional areas more directly.

Access to Subject Matter Experts

The Business Architecture Group must have reasonable access to managers and subject matter experts throughout the organization. In exchange, the Business Architecture Group must respect their time.

Charter

The Business Architecture Group must operate under its own charter, which spells out the work they are charged with, the scope of their activities and how their activities will be measured.

Composition

The Business Architecture Group should be comprised of experts from a variety of areas of the organization (Domain Specialists) – e.g., marketing, strategy, finance, operations, IT, and with a variety of applicable skills (Skills Specialists) – e.g., process modeling, financial modeling, dashboard design, meeting facilitation. Group members may be a mix of employees and consultants and may function as full-time members of the group, or may work primarily in other roles, and participate in the group only when their particular knowledge or expertise is needed.  Members should be selected to participate in the group based not only on their domain knowledge or specialized skill, but also on their ability to adopt a broad perspective and collaborate with others toward a common goal. At least some should be trained in Business Architecture and actively participate in professional Business Architecture organizations.

Recruiting Right

Being the right fit is the most important factor for the success of a Business Architect, followed by emotional intelligence, skills, respected relationships throughout the organization and a formalized education in Business Architecture, which can be completed subsequent to hiring.

There are inherent advantages to recruiting Business Architects from within, including their established relationships within the organization and familiarity with the culture, strategy, and ongoing initiatives. Domain Specialists ideally are recruited from the ranks of the functional areas and business units in which they will reside. 

Good sources for Business Architects:

• Business Architecture professional organizations
• Business Architecture educational programs
• Management consulting firms
• MBA and Executive MBA programs

First 100 Days

The following checklist will help to set the game plan for the first 100 days when launching a new Business Architecture Group:

• Select Reporting Executive Manager
• Select the Business Architecture Group leader, titled Chief Business Architect
• Meet with Reporting Executive Manager
• Draft charter
• Assemble Business Architecture Governance Board to finalize charter/recruit team members from the departments
• Perform first scan
• Report results and define engagements
• Recruit remainder of Business Architecture Group
• Begin regular Business Architecture Governance Board meetings
• Alternate engagements and scans until the program is robust