StraightTalk

As a newer role on the scene, working in a business world ubiquitous with design, digital, agile and other emerging concepts, the way we show up as business architects matters a lot. Because everything we do and say demonstrates to others what business architecture really is, and we need to be relevant and distinguish ourselves. The success of a business architect then is not just in what we know or what we do — but in our Ways of Working (WOWs), which this installment of StraightTalk explores.

In order to compete and operate effectively, an organization must have clarity on who their customers are and what products they offer – and this must be consistently understood by every person so they know who they are serving and how they fit within the bigger picture. An organization’s business architecture is front and center to providing this clarity, which is what we explore throughout this installment of StraightTalk.

This installment of StraightTalk explores the topic of digital readiness: what it is, how we measure it, how we get there – and how business architecture can accelerate that journey.

Going digital: It’s on everyone’s mind. And business architecture can help. So, in this installment of StraightTalk, we’ll explore the concept of a cognitive enterprise: what it means, a vision of what can be, how to get there, and the important role business architecture plays to make it real.

This is the third and final installment in a series on how business architecture can be used to catalyze, embed and enforce key sustainability, legal and ethical considerations into an organization’s DNA. In this StraightTalk post, we explore how organizations can leverage business architecture to ensure ethical decision-making and actions.

This is the second installment in a three-part series where we examine how business architecture can be used to catalyze, embed and enforce key sustainability, legal and ethical considerations into an organization’s DNA. Here we explore how organizations can leverage business architecture to enable policy making and compliance.

This installment of StraightTalk is the first in a series that focuses on how business architecture can be used to catalyze, embed and enforce key sustainability, legal and ethical considerations into an organization’s DNA. Using business architecture in this way truly unlocks its value and power. First up in our series: how business architecture can enable organizational sustainability, so here goes.

In this installment of StraightTalk, we will focus on one of those burning questions: how do we calculate the return on investment (ROI) of a business architecture practice within an organization? We will explore a method for determining the ROI of a business architecture practice that you can put into use ASAP. The intention here is to provide a place to start and give you some ideas, but hopefully, inspire many more of your own.

In this installment of StraightTalk, we will explore some ways that you can start putting business architecture into use ASAP to provide business value — while you continue to build up your knowledgebase and pursue more complex usage scenarios over time. The intention here is to give you some starter ideas that inspire you to create many more of your own.

In this installment of StraightTalk, we’ll take another look at business architecture in action. This time, we’ll focus on how it can be used as a framework for better decision-making. The intention here is to give you some examples of how you can use business architecture to support different types of decision-making within your organization. We’re confident these will inspire many more ideas of your own.

Having a clear vision of what we are working towards is essential to guide and inspire any journey, so in this installment of StraightTalk, we explore a concept for what it means to be a mature business architecture practice, and how to get there. In other words, if we climb this business architecture mountain, what’s at the top and what are we to expect along the way?

Once business architecture starts getting traction within an organization, there often comes a question: “Does IT have a business architecture?” This installment of StraightTalk explores this concept of “the business architecture of IT.”