How Business Architecture Informs Requirements

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.

The Central Role of Business Analysis in Enterprise Architecture

What role does business analysis play in enterprise architecture — and why is it central rather than peripheral?

Business analysis is frequently treated as a project-level discipline — something that happens within initiatives, not above them. This 2007 presentation by Graham McLeod challenges that view, arguing that business analysts have a central and irreplaceable role in enterprise architecture, particularly across the business and process architecture dimensions. Delivered to the IIBA Western Cape Chapter, the presentation walks through the components of EA using the Inspired frameworks, with detailed coverage of business architecture, business process architecture, and the relationship between strategy, architecture, and programme management. A key theme is requirements traceability — the clear linkage from business goals and events through to system and technology services — which demands the kind of domain knowledge and analytical rigour that experienced business analysts bring. The presentation concludes that EA represents a natural career growth path for analysts, and that organisations which keep the two disciplines separate are missing a significant opportunity.

Originally presented by Graham McLeod to the IIBA Western Cape Chapter, November 2007.