A Business Architecture viewpoint within NORA. It captures the interaction points between the entity's organizational units and the relevant external entities by the entity's tasks, services, and business processes, and shows the mechanism of each interaction together with the data tied to it.
A Business Architecture Viewpoint
About the Interactive Model
Placement in NORA: Section II - A Business Architecture viewpoint inside the methodology.
NORA lists it among the Business Architecture viewpoints alongside the Business Value Chain, the Service Directory, and the Business Process Flowcharts.
It identifies every interaction point between the relevant organizational units and external entities by the entity's tasks, services, and business processes.
For each interaction point it shows the mechanism of the interaction and the data tied to it, especially the points where external entities are involved.
It helps build a clear picture of how the entity interacts, which is one of the inputs used to draw out the core business capabilities from the reasons behind interactions with external parties.
How the Interactive Model Is Built
01
Gather the inputs from the business architecture
The entity's tasks, business capabilities, services, and the business processes documented in earlier stages.
02
Identify the parties and capture the interaction points
The relevant organizational units inside the entity and the external entities involved in each service and business process.
03
Set out the interaction mechanism and the related data
For each point: the nature of the interaction (request, data exchange, notification, or technical integration) and the data that moves through it.
04
Approve the viewpoint within Business Architecture
The Business Architect signs it off as part of the documented current state or the designed target state.
Key takeaway
NORA validates the viewpoint against two conditions: every interaction point between the relevant organizational units and external entities is captured by the entity's tasks, services, and business processes; and the external interaction points are clear in both the mechanism of each interaction and the data tied to it.
Parties Captured in the Model
Internal organizational units
Departments inside the entity that deliver the services and business processes, with clear ownership of each service and each process.
Beneficiaries
External beneficiaries (individuals, businesses, government entities) and internal beneficiaries from the entity's own staff.
Relevant government entities
Entities the organization shares interaction points with to deliver its services or to comply with national legislation and policies.
External partners and service providers
External parties that take part in delivering the services or business processes through defined agreements or integration points.
Why This Viewpoint Matters
Draws out the core business capabilities
Analyzing why the entity interacts with external parties surfaces the capabilities tied directly to its tasks and strategic goals.
Exposes duplicate or unclear ownership
It flags cases where more than one organizational unit delivers the same service, or where ownership of a business process is not clearly assigned.
A starting point for integration automation
Clarity about the interaction mechanism and the data exchanged at each point is the basis for decisions on building technical integration interfaces in the Application Architecture.
