Business Capability Map: [Organisation or business unit]

Business capability map and heatmap for one organisation or business unit: modelling principles, an L1 to L3 capability hierarchy, a definitions catalogue with stable IDs, maturity and strategic importance scoring, a heatmap, mappings to value streams and applications, and the investment recommendations that follow. The structure is aligned with the concepts of the TOGAF Series Guide: Business Capabilities, Version 2 (G211, April 2022), part of the TOGAF Standard, 10th Edition. Replace every [bracketed] value and every row marked Example.

Document control

Approvals

Revision history

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Capability modelling principles
3. Capability hierarchy
4. Capability definitions catalogue
5. Assessment method
6. Capability heatmap
7. Capability to value stream mapping
8. Capability to application mapping
9. Investment recommendations
10. Governance and refresh
11. Glossary and references

1. Introduction

1.1 Purpose

This capability map gives [Organisation] a single, stable description of what the business must be able to do to deliver its strategy, independent of the current organisation chart, processes and systems. It is used to [prioritise the FY YYYY change portfolio, locate duplicated applications, scope the target architecture, assign capability ownership].

1.2 Scope

• In scope: [all customer-facing and supporting capabilities of the retail insurance business unit].
• Out of scope: [group-level treasury, which has its own map].
• Depth: L1 and L2 for the whole scope; L3 only where an investment decision needs it (currently [Claims Management, Customer Management]).
• Time frame: current state as of YYYY-MM-DD, target maturity for YYYY-MM-DD.

1.3 Questions this map answers

1. Which capabilities differentiate us and which only need to be reliable at reasonable cost?
2. Where is the gap between current and target maturity largest for the capabilities that matter most?
3. Which capabilities are supported by several overlapping applications, and which by none?
4. Where should the next planning cycle invest, sustain or reduce spend?

1.4 Related documents

2. Capability modelling principles

The following rules apply to every capability in this map. Reviewers reject a capability that breaks a rule unless a recorded exception exists.

2.1 Capability categories

Group L1 capabilities into three bands so that leaders read the map at a glance:

• Strategic (direction-setting): capabilities that set goals, govern and plan, such as Strategy Management and Risk Management.
• Core (customer-facing value delivery): capabilities that create and deliver the value customers pay for, such as Product Management, Policy Administration and Claims Management.
• Supporting (enabling): capabilities every organisation needs but which rarely differentiate, such as Finance, People and Facilities.

2.2 Capability versus process versus value stream

A capability is an ability; a process is the sequence of activities that exercises it; a value stream is the end-to-end set of stages that deliver a result to a stakeholder. One capability is used by many processes and many value stream stages. Keep processes in the process catalogue and value streams in section 7; link them to capabilities by ID instead of copying them into the map.

3. Capability hierarchy

3.1 L1 and L2 overview

The mindmap shows the three bands from section 2.1, the L1 capabilities and their L2 children. Regenerate it from the catalogue in section 4 whenever the structure changes.

3.2 L3 decomposition where required

L3 is maintained only for capabilities selected for investment analysis. The table is the source of truth; the diagram above is a view of it.

3.3 ID convention

• L1: CAP-NN, L2: CAP-NN.NN, L3: CAP-NN.NN.NN.
• IDs are never reused. A retired capability keeps its ID with status "Retired" so that historical heatmaps still resolve.
• When a capability is split, the original ID is retired and the parts receive new IDs; record the lineage in the catalogue.

4. Capability definitions catalogue

Each definition states the ability, the business object it acts on and the outcome it produces. Owners are accountable business leaders, not system owners.

4.1 Synonyms and lineage

5. Assessment method

5.1 Maturity scale

Maturity describes how well the organisation performs the capability today, across people, process, information and resources (tools and assets). Score the weakest of the four dimensions, not the average, when they differ by two or more levels.

5.2 Strategic importance scale

Strategic importance describes how much the capability contributes to the strategy in REF-01. Derive it from the strategy, not from current spend.

5.3 Additional assessment dimensions

5.4 Priority rule

Investment priority is the strategic importance multiplied by the maturity gap. With importance 1 to 3 and a gap of 0 to 4, the result ranges from 0 to 12. Treat 6 and above as "Invest", 3 to 5 as "Improve selectively", and below 3 as "Sustain or reduce". Adjust these bands only by a recorded decision of the governance forum in section 10.

5.5 Assessment evidence

Record for every score who scored it, when, and on what evidence (metrics, audit reports, interviews). A score without evidence is marked "Provisional" and is not used for funding decisions.

6. Capability heatmap

6.1 Heatmap table

Legend for the "Heat" column: Red priority 6 or more, Amber 3 to 5, Green below 3. Add a cross mark in the "Risk" column for any capability rated High business risk regardless of colour.

6.2 Heatmap view

The diagram colours each L2 capability by its heat value from table 6.1; keep the two consistent by updating the table first.

6.3 Reading the heatmap

• Red differentiating capabilities are the first candidates for change investment.
• Green commodity capabilities with high run cost are candidates for standardisation, outsourcing or cost reduction.
• Amber capabilities marked with a risk cross need a risk owner decision even if they are not funded for improvement.

7. Capability to value stream mapping

7.1 Value streams in scope

7.2 Stage to capability cross-map

A value stream stage is only as strong as its weakest enabling capability. Use the third column to explain customer-visible problems in capability terms.

8. Capability to application mapping

8.1 Findings from the mapping

9. Investment recommendations

9.1 Traceability

10. Governance and refresh

10.1 Roles

10.2 Change rules

1. Structural changes (add, split, merge, retire) need a change request with rationale and approval from the architecture board.
2. Score changes need evidence and the capability owner's approval.
3. Every funded initiative names the capability IDs it changes and the expected maturity change.

10.3 Refresh cadence

11. Glossary and references

11.1 Glossary

11.2 References

• The Open Group, TOGAF Series Guide: Business Capabilities, Version 2 (G211, April 2022), part of the TOGAF Standard, 10th Edition: concepts of capability, capability map and heat mapping.
• Business Architecture Guild, A Guide to the Business Architecture Body of Knowledge (BIZBOK Guide): concepts of capability, value stream and their cross-mapping; check the current version at the Guild's site.
• Related templates: Application Portfolio Rationalization (architecture/application-portfolio-rationalization), Architecture Principles Catalogue (architecture/architecture-principles), Technology Selection (architecture/technology-selection), Legacy Modernization Assessment (architecture/modernization-assessment), Architecture Roadmap and Transition Architectures (architecture/architecture-roadmap-transition).

Standard and licence note

Structure aligned with the concepts of the TOGAF Series Guide: Business Capabilities, Version 2 (The Open Group, G211, April 2022), part of the TOGAF Standard, 10th Edition, and with business architecture concepts described in the BIZBOK Guide of the Business Architecture Guild. Both works are copyrighted; this template reproduces no text, definitions, tables or reference models from them, and all wording, scales and examples are original. Check the current official versions for their guidance. TOGAF is a registered trademark of The Open Group; BIZBOK is a registered trademark of the Business Architecture Guild. Template licence: MIT.