Title: The business architect role is vital to business process transformation
Headings: The business architect role is vital to business process transformation
The business architect role is vital to business process transformation
If you have not yet heard the term "business architect", you soon will, write John Rymer and Alexander Peters of Forrester Research. Whether business architects report into the business or IT, this emerging role will help usher in organisations' transition from IT to business technology (BT).
Recognising the need for a business architect
Independent role for business architects
Previous Forrester articles in the series:

Content: Both the BAA model and the EA discipline approaches, however, have the limitation of usually being consultative in nature, unless the business architect reports into a process improvement organisation. We do see a third way to fill the need for a business architect: Charter the position as a management or executive function accountable to the senior business process executive for getting things done, rather than just advising others on what to do. Independent role for business architects
So where should the business architect executive fit into the organisation? Our research suggests that many organisations try to leave their existing organisational structures in place without giving their business architects a strong independent role. The result of this approach will be an empty title and, ultimately, a failure to execute business transformation. A better way to organise this function is for the business architect to, firstly, report to the senior business process executive. The best reporting relationship is to the change agent - the chief process officer, senior executive for business process transformation, senior executive for continuous improvement, or a similar title. The business architect should also set the direction for operations leaders. To execute a transformation vision, the business architect executive must rely on the actions of business unit executives and managers, heads of profit and loss and cost centre units, and other business process owners.