Capability Maps in EA
The stable frame for hanging investment, ownership and health off.
5 to work through
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intermediate
An enterprise capability map is complete and current, and no investment decision has been changed by it. What is missing?
2 min answer -
intermediate
Review this. A capability map decomposed to four levels - 380 boxes - each carrying an owner name, a maturity score of 1 to 5, a red/amber/green status and links to supporting systems. It took 7 months and two contractors. In the year since publication it has been used once, to answer whether the two business units duplicate capabilities. What would you remove, what would you change, and what would you leave alone?
3 min answer -
intermediate
You have a capability map and four possible overlays. Which do you use, and how do you choose?
1 min answer -
advanced
A CFO points at the portfolio and asks why two business units need two CRM systems costing £1.4M a year between them, and asks you to consolidate. Walk me through how you would answer.
3 min answer -
advanced
A CIO asks for a capability map of the enterprise. How do you scope it so it is actually used?
2 min answer
3 terms in this topic
Capability Decomposition Depth
The level at which a capability map stops describing what a business does and starts describing how it is currently organised - the point past which …
toolCapability Map
A stable, technology-neutral model of what a business does, used as the frame for assessing systems, investment and duplication.
practiceCapability-to-Application Mapping
Linking each business capability to the systems that support it, which is what converts two inventories into an analysis tool.
Neighbouring topics
Enterprise Architecture
General material on architecture at portfolio and estate scale.
EA Domains
Business, application, data and technology architecture as viewpoints.
Application Architecture
The application estate as a designed portfolio rather than an accumulation.
Technology Architecture
Platforms, runtimes and infrastructure standards across the estate.
Application Portfolio Management
Inventory, ownership, cost and health for every application.
Application Rationalisation
Retire, consolidate, replatform — and why retirement is under-applied.
Technology Standards
Guidance that teams follow because it helps, not because it is mandated.
Technology Radar
Adopt, trial, assess and hold — with movement, dates and owners.
Reference Architectures
Pre-approved templates for recurring solution shapes.
Architecture Governance
Preventive, automated controls rather than review meetings.
Architecture Review Boards
Thresholds, early engagement and a real route to accept deviation.
Enterprise Integration
Estate-wide integration strategy, standards and shared infrastructure.
TOGAF
The ADM as a checklist, tailored rather than followed literally.
EA Frameworks
Zachman, FEAF and others — vocabulary rather than method.
Architecture Roadmaps
Sequencing change across an estate with dependencies and funding.
Paved Roads
Making the supported path the easiest path, with a way to leave it.
Platform Teams
Reducing other teams' cognitive load, measured by adoption.
InnerSource
Open-source collaboration practices applied inside an organisation.
EA Metrics
Measuring whether architecture work changed anything.