Saturday, August 27, 2011

Forrester's Business Process Forum 2011

Forrester's Business Process Forum 2011
Business Architects Association is pleased to announce its participation at Forrester's Business Process Forum 2011 — and you're invited!


Today's business executives have sky-high expectations of Business Process (BP) Professionals.

Not only must BP pros deliver process improvement breakthroughs across the organization, but they're also instrumental in driving transformation initiatives with a bull's-eye on improving every process that touches or involves the customer.

Forrester's Business Process Forum 2011 will focus on re-inventing customer-facing business processes and helping BP leaders transform the customer experience.

Through two days of keynote presentations, in-depth track sessions, One-On-One Meetings with Forrester analysts, and networking with peers and industry thought leaders, this Forum will help you:

Use pragmatic business process management approaches, methodologies, and programs to meet the expectations of executives driving customer engagement.
Give your organization the "right stuff" to truly delight the customer at every interaction.
Deploy new technologies like social, cloud, and mobile for transforming business processes that touch the customer.

Registration for Forrester's Business Process Forum 2011 includes complimentary access to Forrester's Application Development & Delivery Forum 2011 and Forrester's Content & Collaboration Forum 2011 taking place September 22–23 in the same location.

Be sure to register with our promo code for reduced pricing. We look forward to seeing you in Boston!

Registration Link: http://www.businessarchitectsassociation.org/baa_forrester

Monday, August 9, 2010

What Is Business Value?

Given the prior post, "Business Architecture Definition", I thought it would be useful to post a similar fundamental question, What is business value?

A few years ago I was sitting in a discussion next to a former Gartner analyst, and I mentioned that IT needs to be more business focused.

I know that this blog is not about IT, but IT is my own original background, so please bear with me.

The Garnter guy looked at me and said, "People have been saying that IT should be more business focused for at least ten years" - and that was some years ago.

The problem is, many - I would say most - people in IT do not know what it means to be business focused. (I come from IT so I feel I can make that introspective criticism of my own profession.) To be business focused, one has to know what business value is, and I would venture as well that the very phrase "business value" is misunderstood within the ranks of IT - including the ranks of business architects who work within the realm of IT.

If your background includes training in business, then you can probably answer in short order that business value pertains to realization of the organization's goals; in a for-profit entity, that is profit, and in a corporate entity it is primarily shareholder value.

Within the realm of IT, "business value" is often understood to mean something like one of the following:
  • Doing what the "business side" tells you to do, as if they were a "customer". (They are not: they are a partner.)
  • Realization of business processes that perform business functions.
  • Minimization of costs.
These are all worth considering as important elements of planning and operation, but none of them are true to what "business value" is: the realization of the firm's goals.

It is a fact that many business architects originate from the ranks of IT. They have the advantage that they have a deep knowledge of how the organization can leverage technology. At the same time, they tend to be handicapped by having less understanding of business analysis techniques. For most people with an IT background, standard business tools such as spreadsheets tend to make the eyes glaze over. (This is why I developed the free Expressway business value analysis tool. See http://ValueDrivenIT.com.)

For business architects who originate from the ranks of IT, the implication is that some initiative and training is called for, such as the Business Architect Certificate Program at De Paul University, or even an MBA; or for those who are truly self-starters, I believe that one can even learn what is needed on one's own through aggressive self-study.

In any case, the call is clear: be business focused, and understand what business people mean when they talk about "business value".

Monday, May 10, 2010

Business Architecture Definition

I have heard a lot of bookish Business Architecture Definitions but Guru's Can you please define Business Architecture and the role of Business Architect in an organization is simple language with particle examples?

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Welcome to the Business Architect Association Blog.


Ladies and Gentleman welcome to the official blog of Business Architects Association (BAA). This blog will server as a platform for discussion and information exchange between seasoned, budding Business Architects and industry leaders. Please feel free to share your opinions, experience regarding the Business Architecture filed.


The BAA is an international association that provides information on Business Architecture and helps corporate executives determine how to leverage its power to help transform their business. The BAA also provides business architects with the most advanced training and education so they can excel as leaders in business transformation projects - as well as connect with the professionals and ideas that can enhance their careers.