How does business architecture provide the context that makes requirements meaningful?
Requirements gathering that ignores the broader enterprise context produces solutions that solve the wrong problems. This presentation by Graham McLeod establishes why business architecture is a prerequisite for good requirements engineering, not an optional upstream activity. It walks through the key business architecture perspectives — motivation, value streams, operating models, functions, processes, services, and business capabilities — and shows how each one contributes to defining scope, surfacing gaps, and grounding solution requirements in business reality. A particularly useful section contrasts the enterprise architecture view (breadth, context, planning) with the solution architecture view (depth, design, delivery), using the analogy of city planning versus building design. The presentation also covers gap analysis and the role of reference models in assessing solution options against current capability.
Originally presented by Graham McLeod at Inspired events, 2018–2023.