As more and more organizations begin developing Business Architecture assets, they quickly realize that the information being compiled has value beyond the business domain and can benefit the entire enterprise. In fact, to achieve the full promise of a well constructed Business Architecture, it must be aligned with all other areas of the organization, including Finance, Operations – and especially, the Information Technology (IT) area.

This article is part one in a series of articles that describe how an IT department can use Business Architecture information to accelerate the delivery of solutions that enable the business. The topics covered in this series include “How to Leverage Business Architecture for Solution Requirements Modeling”, “Business Architectures Role in Defining Solution Architecture”, and “How Business Architecture Influences Quality Assurance and Quality Control.” The other articles from this series may be found at http://tech.stagrp.com/2008/09. More advanced topics, to be covered in future newsletters and on the website, will focus on the alignment of the Business Capability Model (BCM) to an IT Service Capability Model, as well as Business and IT alignment from an organizational perspective. Many other interesting ideas will also be presented along the way but for now, let’s get started…

While the value of Business Architecture is becoming obvious to most everyone involved in business strategy and definition, when a business architect presents the work they’ve done to their IT partners and asks them for a technical solution that will enable their vision, they are often met with blank stares. Some potential reasons for this include: the IT department may be unaware of business architecture practices; or, the business architecture information is presented in unfamiliar formats; or, quite simply, the IT department just doesn’t know where to start.

Business Architecture

Traditionally an IT effort begins with the definition of scope and requirements that are to be met by the solution. The effort required to produce this information can end up taking 30% or more of the total cost of delivering the initial solution. When Business Architecture is leveraged to define the business need, the total cost of scope and requirements definition can be greatly reduced while providing a significant jump start to the effort.

One of the biggest advantages we can get from leveraging Business Architecture during Solution Requirements Modeling occurs during the creation of system use cases. Information created during a Business Architecture effort can be mapped directly to the definition of System Use Cases. Table 1 shows how Business Architecture information may
be mapped to System Use Cases.

Essentially, each activity or decision point on the business process map is turned into one or more System Use Cases. Other information is translated into use case fields and, most importantly, a collaborative effort between business and systems representatives is used to define the detailed use case steps leveraging all other available Business Architecture information. This enables both the business and systems to “…get on the same page…” with regard to what the true business need is.

Leveraging Business Architecture in this manner can help ensure that the business need is met while reducing time-to-market and the overall cost of producing the eventual solution.

Parts II & III of this series may be found at: http://tech.stagrp.com/2008/08

Table 2

In this edition of the IT Solution Delivery Newsletter, we highlight portions of STA Group’s Solution Delivery Methodology, which provides a specific and tangible approach to (finally!) solving the problems involved with translating a businesses’ requirements into actionable development. Although this problem has existed for decades and many have made determined attempts to improve “the Business-IT chasm” with technologies and methodologies, virtually every company continues this struggle today.

STA’s methodology provides a fresh—and ultimately workable—approach, due to the strong connections forged with the first part of the process: business requirements. STA Group’s Business Consulting practice has pioneered a new and successful approach to developing highly usable business requirement artifacts. Key to the Solution Delivery methodology are the innovative and specific mapping exercises that help determine exactly how the businesses’ artifacts should be applied to IT’s own inputs and deliverables, thus reducing and in many cases eliminating the vexing gaps that exist when IT attempts to begin their design from the requirements. Other innovations include planning exercises that vastly improve the likelihood of generating accurate estimates of the development required to implement the businesses’ vision.

Seattle – March 17, 2008 — Milliman, Inc., the international firm of consultants and actuaries announced today that its STEP Solutions® team is working with STA Group LLC (STA) to offer customers the ability to design, build and implement a next generation Long Term Care Claims processing platform. Milliman and STA will leverage the STEP-FAST technology developed by Milliman to provide a straight-through solution for the origination, issue, underwriting, claims and policy administration of insurance products. STEP-FAST is a unique technology platform that incorporates Milliman’s deep product and industry knowledge into its core architecture.

Milliman and STA will target the growing need for more efficient Long Term Care (LTC) claims processing. Increased LTC product complexity, a rapidly changing regulatory environment, inefficient claims processes, poor data and ineffective service have contributed to customer dissatisfaction and claims overpayment. Milliman and STA offer a solution that can be designed and implemented in large, complex, enterprise scale environments.

About STA Group LLC

STA Group LLC is based in Chicago and provides business architecture, IT strategy, legacy modernization, solution delivery, security architecture, quality assurance, and enterprise architecture services to financial institutions and Fortune 500 clients. Its engineers and consultants have a breadth of insurance and financial services expertise, averaging over 15 years of experience working in large scale, enterprise technology environments.

About Milliman

Milliman, whose corporate offices are in Seattle, serves the full spectrum of business, financial, government, and union organizations. Founded in 1947 as Milliman & Robertson, the company has 47 offices in principal cities in the United States and worldwide. Milliman employs more than 2,000 people, including a professional staff of more than 900 qualified consultants and actuaries. The firm has consulting practices in employee benefits, healthcare, life insurance/financial services, and property and casualty insurance. For further information, visit www.milliman.com.

STA Group, LLC is pleased to announce it will be a co-sponsor of the upcoming BrainStorm Chicago conference hosted by BPMInstitute.org and SOAInstitute.org. The conference, which will be held on April 9-12, 2007 at The Drake Hotel in Chicago, will focus on emerging technologies and methodologies supporting Business Architecture, Business Process Management, Service-Oriented Architecture, Business Rules, and Organizational Performance.

Greg Suddreth, STA’s Business Architecture Practice Director, will join other industry experts and practitioners as a featured panelist addressing various business architecture topics and implementation strategies. STA Business Architecture practitioners will also be sharing their proven best practices during the conference Solution Showcase events.

For additional information about BrainStorm Chicago, visit: BPM Institute.

For additional information about STA’s Business Architecture Practice, visit Business Architecture.

Business Architects Association is an international organization dedicated to the promotion and advancement of the Business Architect field through education, research, community involvement, and application of methodologies for the benefit of the business community at large. For more information about this association, visit: Business Architects Association

STA Group is a pioneer in the Business Architecture space. STA’s business architect consultants are deeply experienced in the creation, management, and utilization of all components of Business Architecture in support of business strategic and IT development activities.

For additional information about STA’s Business Architecture Practice, visit Business Architecture .