Stage 3 of 8
Business Architecture
Business architecture is where TOGAF stops being abstract for many organisations. This stage uses capabilities, value streams, business models, and business-layer gap analysis to expose where the enterprise must change.
Read this stage in sequence on the first pass. The point is to sharpen judgement through one concrete artefact and one practical decision, not to accumulate isolated notes.
What this stage covers
Use the modules in order. The groupings below organise the sequence without changing it.
Understand the business layer properly
Start by clarifying what Phase B is for and how business models and organisation mapping shape the enterprise view.
- 40 min. Explain what Phase B is trying to achieve
- 35 min. Use business models to frame change at enterprise level
- Module 3Organisation mapping30 min. Map functions, actors, and responsibilities clearly
Use capabilities and value streams for decisions
These modules move from capability language into planning, value streams, and business footprints without confusing them with systems or process maps.
- Module 4Business capabilities30 min. Define capabilities correctly
- Module 5Capability-based planning30 min. Connect capability assessments to planning decisions
- Module 6Value streams45 min. Explain value streams and value stages
- 40 min. Use business footprints to show relationships at enterprise scale
Close the loop with gaps and the London case
Finish with business-layer gap analysis and a full walkthrough of the London connections modernisation case.
- 35 min. Apply gap analysis to baseline and target business architecture
- 35 min. Use the London case to apply Phase B end to end
- 35 min. Recognise shallow business-architecture anti-patterns
Why this stage matters
If the business layer is weak, every later technology choice floats free from organisational reality. This is also where many teams mistake systems or org charts for actual business architecture.
London threads in this stage
- Connections modernisation as a customer and operations problem
- Capability gaps behind long lead times, poor data handover, and weak planning visibility
- Value-stream thinking across design, planning, approvals, build, and energisation
Artefacts you should be able to defend
- Capability map
- Value stream model
- Business-layer gap log
Primary stage artefact
Capability map
Treat this as the main artefact the stage should sharpen. If you can explain who it is for, what decision it affects, and what evidence it depends on, the stage is doing real work.
My view
Capability work is useful only if it changes prioritisation, ownership, or roadmap logic. If it does none of those things, it is probably decorative.
Stage workspace
The workspace contains eleven practice tools that reinforce the skills covered in each stage. Use them alongside the reading flow or revisit them during revision.