Capture business capability data

Some enterprises define their business by means of business capabilities that describe the main functions and competencies about what is necessary to run the business. A business capability is captured as an abstract description of what is done in a company to meet its business objectives independent of the organization's structure, business processes, and people. This approach helps companies to understand which core capabilities of the business need to be supported and which parts of the IT architecture contribute to these core capabilities and are therefore most important for business success.

In contrast, a business process details the set of activities that represent the work required to achieve a business objective. This would include processes such as selling products, delivering services, distributing products, invoicing for services, and accounting for money received. For example, Support and Services is a high-level abstract description of a business capability whereas Deliver Services is a description of a repeatable activity (business process) that takes place.

You company's main business capabilities should be defined as the highest level business capabilities. It is recommended that this is limited to 5-10 generic business capabilities. Each business capability may have multiple subordinate business capabilities, whereby it is recommended that the business capability model not have more than 3 or 4 levels to provide manageability.

Business capabilities are structured in a business capability hierarchy. Before you begin, you should consider which business capabilities are your main business capabilities and which are their subordinate business capabilities. It is recommended that you conceptualize your business capabilities in a hierarchy with at least two levels. The top two levels of business capabilities are analyzed in the context of various business questions in Alfabet FastLane.

Start with the main business capabilities in your company and assign each of these business capabilities a number such as 1, 2, and so on. Next consider the subordinate business capabilities below each top-level business capability and assign a logical numerical system: 1.1, 1.2., 1.3, etc. For example, Market Development, Product Development, and Support and Services would be typical high level business capabilities with Level ID attributes set to 1, 2, and 3 respectively. The business capability Product Development (Level ID = 2) might have the subordinate business capabilities Product Capability Definition (Level ID = 2.1), Product Development Planning (Level ID = 2.2), and Product Design (Level ID = 2.3).

In the navigation panel, click Business Architecture > Business Capabilities to open the explorer for business capabilities.​

Add a new root-level business capability. Click the root node of the explorer and click New button to open the edit panel.

Add a new subordinate business capability. Click the parent business capability in the explorer, go to the Overview tab and open the Sub-Domains view. Click New > Create New Business Capability to open the edit panel.

Change the parent of a business capability. In the Sub-Domains view, click New > Move Existing Business Capability Here to open a selector where you can chose the business capability to move to the new parent business capability.

Edit an existing business capability. Select the checkbox  DWB_Checkbox for the business capability you want to edit and click the Edit  dlt-icon-edit_Teal button to open the edit panel.

Define the business capability's basic data. All mandatory fields must be defined to create the business capability and save it.

  • Level ID: (Recommended) Enter a level ID for the business capability in the business capability hierarchy. Each business capability should be assigned a number in the Level ID attribute. The business capabilities will be displayed in alphabetical and numerical order. You can leave this attribute empty at first and assign the level ID to your business capabilities after they have been created.
  • Name: (Mandatory) The name of the business capability. The name should capture an abstract description of what is done to meet it the company's business objectives.
  • Business Relevance: (Recommended) Indicates how relevant the business capability is for the business.
    • Mission Critical: The business capability is crucial to the organization's business and therefore essential to the accomplishment of the vision, goals and objectives.
    • Business Evolving: The business capability responds to internal and external change and helps to support the necessary steps to transition the organization's business.
    • Business Enabling: The business capability is currently core to the business of the organization and describes what currently exists in the business.
    • Business Operating: The business capability is not unique to the business but does provide the support required to operate the business. Because it is not unique to the business, it does not constitute a core business capability.
  • Business Capability Status: (Recommended) Describes the status of the business capability in the company.
    • In Use: The business capability is part of the business portfolio and is enabled by active applications.
    • Suspended: The business capability has been suspended for a short period of time.
    • Terminated: The business capability has been terminated and remains part of the business architecture for archiving purposes.
    • Outsourced: The business capability has been outsourced to an external organization. The external organization provides business capability as services to the organization.
  • Description: Provide an explanation about the business capability.

Ideally your company has documented its application. Applications should already be in the repository in order to define the application that supports the business capability. Some business questions in Alfabet FastLane can only be answered if the relationships between applications and business capabilities are defined.

Applications support the company to realize its business capabilities. For each business capability, you should specify the applications that support the business capability in order to understand how the business may be at risk due to IT failure.

When you specify a business capability that the application supports, a reference is automatically created between the business capability and application. The relationship between the application and business capability is called an operational business support.

  1. In the navigation panel, click Business Architecture > Business Capabilities to open the data workbench for business capabilities.​
  2. Click the navigate Navigate button of the business capability to open the content area. Go to the Application Portfolio page. In the Application Architecture box, add applications in the Applications Providing Business Capabilities field.