Value Streams are used to frame the Conceptual Operating Model of the enterprise: they describe how the enterprise shall operate, at the conceptual level, and helps chunking responsibilities between Conceptual Agents (Operating Domain or Business Function) .

In the EA context, a  Value Stream is a conceptual Action Process that represents an overarching perspective of the organization's processes aiming at producing Conceptual Outcome Events. The focus is on shaping and understanding the functional relationships and roles within the enterprise : its functional division of labor.

This is not to be confused with Value Stream Mapping (VSM) which is focused on Lean optimization and is addressed with the concept of  Business Process (see the Organization & Processes domain).

A  Value Stream is performed by Conceptual Agents who produce Conceptual Outcome Events. It is depicted as a sequence of Value Stream Stages, controlled by events and conditions.

 Value Stream Activitys are carried out by the involvment of Conceptual Agents as participants in the  Value Stream.

During its course of action, a  Value Stream consumes, produces or stores  Business Objects.

1) It may read or write Domain Assets in its Business Object Store.

2) It may receive Domain Assets at its boundary:  reacted to Business Outcome Events.

3) It may produce Domain Assets at its boundary:  produced Business Outcome Events.

The course of actions of a  Value Stream is constrained by the application of rules ( Conceptual Rule Enforcement) that define what is allowed and not allowed to do.

There are traditionnaly two kinds of  Value Streams:

1) Development development  Value Streams define all of the actions, both value-creating and nonvalue-creating, required to bring a Product from concept to launch.
2)  Operational  Value Streams define define all of the actions, both value-creating and nonvalue-creating, required from order to delivery. These include actions to process information from the  Customer and actions to transform the product on its way to the Customer.