How can enterprise architects bring clarity to project scope, release planning, and stakeholder communication across complex, interdependent programmes?
When multiple projects are running in parallel — each with its own business analyst, development team, and agile backlog — it becomes surprisingly easy for scope, dependencies, and release content to become invisible to the people who most need to understand them: sponsors, stakeholders, and programme managers. This paper documents exactly that problem at a rapidly expanding South African telecoms company, where two major projects (Quoting and Billing) were underway with little consensus on scope, no agreed release breakdown, and a growing disconnect between business expectations and development plans.
The solution was a structured building block approach, distinguishing Business Building Blocks (BBBs) — capability-level components independent of technology choices — from Solution Building Blocks (SBBs), representing the actual systems, data sources, and infrastructure chosen to implement them. A facilitated workshop produced a BBB diagram showing capabilities, dependencies, and release groupings at a glance; a release matrix then mapped capability and content coverage to delivery timelines. Both were formalised in a meta model and implemented in the EVA Netmodeler repository, enabling traceability from business requirements through to agile backlogs and programme milestones.
The approach was well received across all stakeholder groups — sponsors, strategists, and programme managers reported that they finally had a clear, shared picture of what each project would deliver and when. The paper includes the full meta model, visual examples, and an honest reflection on adoption challenges, making it a practical reference for any EA function working to improve programme visibility and stakeholder alignment.
Pages: 9
Originally published as a conference paper by Graham McLeod, Inspired.org / University of Cape Town, circa 2013–2014. Accompanying slides are also available here: A Business and Solution Building Block Approach to EA Project Planning.