Modeling Business Applications for Business Architecture

For several years the mantra has been “closing the Business - IT gap”, enabling business people to focus on strategic direction, while not being unnecessarily burdened by the complexity of the underlying support systems. The discipline of Business Architecture continues to evolve, attempting to bring rigor to the task of matching imprecise strategic needs to rigid IT systems. Increasingly literature acknowledges the need for precise connections between business needs and IT systems, however little usable guidance has been provided. This paper focuses narrowly but deeply at suggesting a precise way in which business applications and related elements of the business architecture can be modeled. It highlights the needs of business stakeholders and compares several existing models. The paper illustrates the inadequacy of these models in addressing our business questions, and proposes a model that offers some distinct advantages.