Keeping you informed
Everything you need to know about Enterprise Lens and a little bit more...
What is Business Architecture
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Business Architecture tools (Enterprise Lens): help the business decide and align
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Enterprise Architecture tools: help architects design and govern
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Use both: Business Architecture to unlock momentum and tell the story, Enterprise Architecture to govern it
Enterprise Lens comparison: BI Dashboards and Enterprise Architecture Tools
Enterprise Lens vs BI Dashboards vs Enterprise Architecture Tools
Area | Enterprise Lens | BI Dashboards | Enterprise Architecture Tools |
|---|---|---|---|
Primary aim | Executive decision storytelling on a single interactive page; reveal relationships and impacts fast. | Numerical analysis & dashboards; explore KPIs, trends, and forecasts. | Formal architecture/process repository with governance, standards, and traceability. |
Core model | Boxes with Lenses (attributes) and Associations; PowerLenses for guided focus; Lens Pages for context. | Tables, measures, visuals, and semantic models; pipelines/ETL feed dashboards. | Standards such as ArchiMate/BPMN/UML; multi‑domain modeling across business, application, data, and technology. |
Time to value | Hours–days using templates & Excel import/export to stand up useful illustrations. | Days–weeks depending on data prep/modeling and governance. | Weeks–months to establish repositories, frameworks, and workflows. |
Depth & rigor | Broad enterprise view with linked evidence; low notation burden for non‑architects, visual display of interdependencies. | Deep quantitative drill‑downs and alerts on governed metrics. | Deep structural design, impact analysis, and compliance. |
Evidence & context | Lens Pages embed docs, visual relationship display, links, images, and even BI dashboards as supporting evidence. | Explanations via drill‑through, tooltips, and detail pages tied to datasets. | Model artifacts with documentation and repository relationships. |
Best for | Operating models, options evaluation, business transformations, portfolio/risk storytelling, change management and rapid executive alignment. | Performance monitoring, trend analysis, forecasting, and ad‑hoc exploration. | Target‑state design, roadmaps, compliance, and change governance. |
Data dependency | Light: works with curated lists and relationships; integrates to evidence as needed. | High: requires governed datasets, pipelines, and modeling. | Medium–High: requires structured objects and maintained repositories. |
Deployment & security | Azure‑hosted with role-based permissions, tenant segregation, Azure Front Door & Key Vault. | Cloud/on‑prem/hybrid options depending on vendor; strong governance features. | Cloud/on‑prem/hybrid repositories with role‑based permissions and workflows. |
How they complement | Pull BI dashboards & documents into Lens Pages; push decisions back to EA repositories for codification. | Surface metrics and signals that inform Enterprise Lens decision stories. | Codify Enterprise Lens outcomes into standards‑compliant models and roadmaps. |
What is Enterprise Lens
Enterprise Lens is a business architecture tool used by organisations to make better informed decisions. It presents a visual representation of strategy, capabilities, cyber impact, processes, applications, risks and vendors etc on one interactive page. It shows visual relationships and the blast-radius or impact of change, and overlays lenses (such as cyber impact, cost, risk, value, time, change readiness). Stories can pivot and create unique views for C-Suite and decision makers without shuffling decks. It complements an EA repository by turning models and data into an executive-readable capability model/operating model/decision map, and ultimately getting executive and business buy-in and support as they visually understand the impact of their decisions.
Business Architecture explained
Business architecture is the executive-ready blueprint of how your strategy turns into results. It maps the relationships between customers, value streams, capabilities, processes, people, information and the systems that support them—so leaders can see how the business really works on one page. For enterprise architects, it provides a shared, business-first model that anchors solution design; for the C-suite, it makes options, trade-offs and impacts obvious without wading through technical notation.
Why it matters: business architecture gives line-of-sight from goals to delivery, exposing dependencies and the “blast radius” of change before you invest. It sharpens prioritisation, de-risks funding decisions, and keeps strategy, portfolios and execution aligned—so transformation moves faster with fewer surprises and clearer accountability.
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Business transformation: Align strategy to the capabilities that create value; compare 2–3 transformation paths with cost, risk, value and time; sequence work into realistic waves; make dependencies and people impacts clear; tie each wave to measurable outcomes and a crisp funding ask.
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Application rationalisation: Link applications to the capabilities they support; compare options (retain/modernise/retire) with cost, risk and service impact to cut OPEX and simplify the stack.
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ERP/platform modernisation: Show end-to-end process and data impacts, phased migration options, and who’s affected across functions to secure staged funding with realistic timelines.
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Cyber Security & Governance: Map cyber risks and controls to critical capabilities, vendors and data; visualise residual risk by option to target spend where it most reduces exposure.
Why C-Suite should use Business Architecture Tools
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One-page decision map: See option, trade-offs (cost, risk, value, time etc), interdependencies, and a clear ask - all in one interactive view
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Live Pivots: Switch Stories and related Lenses for views in meetings - no deck shuffling
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Make visually informed decisions: Overlay lenses (cyber, strategic, risk, value, time, cost, readiness) so options are comparable at a glance
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Reduce cognitive load: Replace notation-heavy diagrams and slide sprawl with one visual interface the business can use and understand
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Maintain Line of Sight: Keep strategy, business capabilities, risks etc connected in one navigable view that survives beyond the meeting
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High-value scenarios: Operating model redesign, portfolio rationalisation, ERP modernisation, platform/vendor selection, merger and acquisition, ESG Impact, enterprise-wide cyber landscape
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Reusable executive artifact: The same page becomes the steering-committee control panel across the program - no constant re-decking
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Enterprise Grade: Azure-hosted with role-based access control, tenant segregation and secure front-door/keys - appropriate for sensitive transformation work.