Defining Business Architecture with Workflows

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, having a clear and well-defined business architecture is crucial for organizational success. One powerful approach to structuring your business architecture is by breaking it down into workflows, actions, steps, and internal steps, all defined in terms of inputs, outputs, operations, and dependencies.

This hierarchical structure provides a comprehensive framework for understanding, analyzing, and optimizing your business processes. Let's dive deep into each level of this architecture and explore how they interconnect to form a cohesive whole.

The Hierarchy of Business Processes

1. Workflows: The highest level of abstraction
2. Actions: Building blocks of workflows
3. Steps: Components of actions
4. Internal Steps: Granular elements within steps

Each of these levels is defined by four key attributes:

• Inputs
• Outputs
• Operations
• Dependencies

Let's explore each level in detail.

Workflows: The Big Picture

Workflows represent end-to-end business processes that achieve specific organizational goals. They provide a high-level view of how different parts of your business interact to deliver value.

For example, a "Customer Onboarding" workflow might include:

• Inputs: Customer information, product selection
• Outputs: Activated customer account, welcome package
• Operations: Information gathering, account creation, product provisioning
• Dependencies: CRM system, product catalog, billing system

Actions: Breaking Down Workflows

Actions are the major components that make up a workflow. They represent significant milestones or phases within the larger process.

Continuing with our "Customer Onboarding" example, actions might include:

1. Collect Customer Information

   • Inputs: Customer details
   • Outputs: Validated customer profile
   • Operations: Data entry, validation
   • Dependencies: CRM system

2. Create Customer Account

   • Inputs: Validated customer profile
   • Outputs: New customer account
   • Operations: Account generation, assignment of customer ID
   • Dependencies: Account management system

3. Provision Selected Products

   • Inputs: Customer account, product selection
   • Outputs: Activated products
   • Operations: Product activation, service setup
   • Dependencies: Product catalog, provisioning system

Steps: Detailing Actions

Steps break down actions into more manageable and specific tasks. They provide a clearer picture of the actual work being performed.

Let's detail the "Create Customer Account" action:

1. Generate Unique Customer ID

   • Inputs: Customer information
   • Outputs: Customer ID
   • Operations: ID generation algorithm
   • Dependencies: ID management system

2. Set Up Account Credentials

   • Inputs: Customer ID, customer email
   • Outputs: Initial login credentials
   • Operations: Password generation, email notification
   • Dependencies: Authentication system, email service

3. Assign Account to Customer Segment

   • Inputs: Customer profile, account details
   • Outputs: Segmented customer account
   • Operations: Segmentation rules application
   • Dependencies: Customer segmentation database

Internal Steps: The Finest Details

Internal steps represent the most granular level of the process, often detailing specific system operations or individual tasks performed by employees.

For the "Set Up Account Credentials" step, internal steps might include:

1. Generate Temporary Password

   • Inputs: Customer ID
   • Outputs: Temporary password
   • Operations: Secure password generation
   • Dependencies: Password policy rules

2. Create Welcome Email

   • Inputs: Customer name, temporary password
   • Outputs: Formatted welcome email
   • Operations: Email template population
   • Dependencies: Email template system

3. Send Welcome Email

   • Inputs: Formatted welcome email, customer email address
   • Outputs: Sent email confirmation
   • Operations: Email transmission
   • Dependencies: Email sending service

Benefits of This Approach

Structuring your business architecture in this hierarchical manner offers several advantages:

1. Clarity: It provides a clear view of processes at various levels of detail.
2. Modularity: Components can be easily updated or replaced without affecting the entire system.
3. Scalability: New workflows, actions, or steps can be added as the business grows.
4. Optimization: Inefficiencies can be identified and addressed at specific levels.
5. Alignment: It ensures that all processes are aligned with overall business goals.

Implementing the Framework

To implement this framework in your organization:

1. Start by identifying your core business workflows.
2. Break each workflow down into constituent actions.
3. Detail the steps within each action.
4. If necessary, further break down steps into internal steps.
5. For each level, clearly define inputs, outputs, operations, and dependencies.
6. Use visual tools like flowcharts or business process modeling notation (BPMN) to represent your architecture.
7. Regularly review and update your architecture to reflect changes in your business.

Conclusion

Defining your business architecture in terms of workflows, actions, steps, and internal steps provides a powerful framework for understanding and optimizing your organization's processes. By clearly articulating inputs, outputs, operations, and dependencies at each level, you create a comprehensive and actionable model of your business.

This approach not only enhances clarity and efficiency but also facilitates continuous improvement and adaptation to changing business needs. As you implement this framework, remember that it's an iterative process. Regularly revisit and refine your architecture to ensure it continues to serve your organization's evolving goals and challenges.