Mike Walker recently posted regarding the new Business Reference Model (BRM) released by The Open Group (TOG) which inspired me to review the document and subsequently provide these remarks. I applaud TOG and the contributors for their work. I myself find it difficult to find time outside my regular work for the collaborate sharing that makes the Enterprise Architecture (EA, EntArch) community, so I respect the effort.
I am puzzled why a consortium like TOG would release a paper authored solely by one firm? Isn’t the purpose of the group to pull in other industry participants? Now, I’ll admit that I didn’t raise my hand to contribute, but shouldn’t TOG defer releasing content that didn’t include at least one other firm in the dialog?
To put it plainly, we need another framework/model like a hole in the head. We have enough frameworks already and being the nerd I am, I like to map and correlate them all together. How does the new BRM map itself into or wrap other models such as, but not limited to any of the following?
- Jeanne Ross’ Operating Model (CISC MIT)
- Enterprise Design Framework (http://intersectionbook.com)
- Porter’s Five Forces, Balanced Scorecard, etc.
- Business Model Canvas
- TOGAF and specifically its metamodel (ch. 34)
- ArchiMate (which, itself, its out of sync with TOGAF but this is being reconciled)
I’m sure we could extend this list. But a final section entitled “Relationships to other Frameworks” would aide the community along with some examples of how the BRM has been used in practice.
