When you start learning about Enterprise Architecture (or if you are already a practising architect), you quickly become aware that capabilities are an important ingredient. But some architects and students find capabilities mysterious and perplexing. This article explains what capabilities are, and why they are important in EA.
The Figure below shows the structure of the TOGAF standard. Business Capabilities are shown as the main outcome to the right of the picture. And of course, capabilities are referred to throughout the documentation, and specifically in the various steps of the ADM.
For example, the 2 objectives of Phase A are:
• “Develop a high-level aspirational vision of the capabilities and business value to be delivered as a result of the proposed Enterprise Architecture
• “Obtain approval for a Statement of Architecture Work that defines a program of works to develop and deploy the architecture outlined in the Architecture Vision”