Is it time to create an MBA in Business Architecture?

Assuming that “Architecture” can be generically defined as “the art and science of designing or constructing something” (adapted from here and here), then what exactly is Business Architecture?

Extending the generalized definition above, a Business Architect should be “someone concerned with the art and science of designing and constructing a business.”  Note the verb: constructing.  A business architect needs to be able to construct a business… from parts.

Reality check: How many people, with the title of business architect, are responsible for constructing a business? 

Most present business architects are technologists, concerned primarily with the alignment of IT projects to business strategies.  They may be planners or solution owners or process owners… but most work in IT departments of large organizations, often directly with the Enterprise Architecture function.

But if we take the view that a Business Architect is responsible for designing a business, or constructing it from constituent parts, then who should have the title of Business Architect?  Should it be an IT person… or should it be a business person?

I do not believe that Business Architecture is a technical function.  

In fact, I don’t believe that IT people do a good job, at all, of describing the architecture of a business, much less making design decisions about the structure, roles, responsibilities, and coordinated artifacts that make up Business Architecture.

But if it is a business skill, what do we get by applying the architectural approach?  We know what it means to be a business person.  What does it mean to be a business architect?

Operating as a business architect requires rigorous engineering skills, an understanding of patterns, and the ability to convey complex ideas through images.  He or she must use a rigorous methodology and clear visual language for creating rich diagrams that depict the business from different perspectives.  To build out the science, we need to create a comprehensive set of cost, flexibility, durability, and agility methods associated with producing viable designs.  Using visual models, business architects can review each other’s efforts, evaluate compliance, test for quality, and to produce detailed design that form the basis of activities.

In effect, if the impact of Business Architecture is to be fully realized, I believe that Business Architecture should become a rigorous and well defined science that is taught to people in Business Schools around the world.  Every MBA would be exposed to business architecture, and some graduates would focus on the profession.

I’m interested in seeing the development of an MBA program in Business Architecture.

Does such a thing already exist?  If you know, please share…

Comments

• Anonymous
  March 06, 2009
  RMIT University in Australia offers a MTech in Enterprise Architecture. You might want to look at that. Here is the link. http://www.rmit.edu.au/programs/mc152. Obviously, this is is technology focused, whereas what you are suggesting is more business oriented. But it is a good place to start. Sathya

• Anonymous
  March 09, 2009
  Update: I ran across this link to the personal story of an MBA graduate who used their degree to get a job as a business architect in a bank. http://www.mba.com/mba/WhyBSchool/MeetB-SchoolAlums/InformationTechnology/Greve.htm

• Anonymous
  March 09, 2009
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  March 09, 2009
  Хорошая провокация С первого взгляда кажется, что это такое скромное самоотстранение (мол, залезли мы

• Anonymous
  March 09, 2009
  Here is a journal article from 2002 on an Executive MBA program in Switzerland that features an approach they call Business Engineering: http://jite.org/documents/Vol1/v1n4p279-288.pdf More up-to-date info on the program can be found (in English) at http://www.swissuniversity.ch/program_details?prg_id=252

• Anonymous
  March 09, 2009
  Hi Yurri, Are you saying that any IT person can learn enough about a business to "construct one from parts" and that a business person would let them?   Or are you saying that there is no role for a person, regardless of education or experience, to consider the structural elements of a business and be able to reshape and rearchitect it to meet new strategic demands? If there is a role, and if the business is not able or ready to let an IT person perform the role, where would you find such a person and what would you call them? I'd call them a business architect. --- N

• Anonymous
  March 10, 2009
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  March 11, 2009
  Hi Jason, I completely agree.  The best way for a person to play to role of Business Architect today is for someone with a strong engineering background to move into a business role and grow their skills in business for a few years. --- Nick

• Anonymous
  March 11, 2009
  Thanks Nick, I unfortunately had a similar conversation over dinner a four years ago with a Senior Manager and Partner from the "Big" consulting firm I worked for and Lost. However, I think the evidence in the market as well as my own personal experience over that time period make me more confident in my convictions. Please keep us posted if you uncover any more serious evidence from academia or industry! Thanks! Jason

• Anonymous
  March 16, 2009
  Great article and excellent comments. I agree that most people possessing the skills to transcribe anything business into what could become a blueprint for architecture need an engineering background. In Sweden there is a 12 day course on the topic of business architecture. It's kind of a mini MBA where they have a strong focus on tying the principle ideas of business and service orientation together. So far they have trained some 200 people and it is really taking on in the business community.

• Anonymous
  March 20, 2009
  Enterprise Architecture is emerging as an important topic in some MBA courses and textbooks.  In fact, I found this blog while doing EA research related to one of my courses towards an MBA in IT Management through the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

• Anonymous
  June 11, 2009
  About a month back, I asked if it was time to create an MBA in Business Architecture . I’m going to follow