An  Operating Domain is a Macro functional division of labor within an enterprise, acting as a Conceptual Agent.

It embodies a collection of interrelated  Business Functions which collaboratively provide one or more  Business Capability(ies).
Operating Domains serve as the highest hierarchical grouping of Business Functions within the enterprise's Conceptual Environment.

A  Business Capability is a conceptual Capability that benefits to Customers (internal or external) of the enterprise. It expresses an ability to produce Conceptual Outcome Events.

A  Business Capability is defined by its intended Enterprise Outcome Events and the conditions (Condition Property) under which the production of the Enterprise Outcome Events shall be proceeded.

The actual Condition Scale Values for a given Business Capability at different stages of Enterprise Initiatives is given by their exhibition (Exhibited Capability).

A  Conceptual Entity is the representation of any tangible or intanglible resource or state of such resource that is of interest to understand the enterprises, its data, resources and activities.

A  Conceptual Entity is either a Concept or a State Concept.

Example:

- "Person" is a  Conceptual Entity of type Concept, Its temporal boundaries are is birth and its death (see Event Concept).

- "Employee" is a  Conceptual Entity of type State Concept: it is a state of a "person". Its temporal boundaries are its hiring and its departure.

A  Business System is a man made artifact (Concrete Hardware System or Business Software System) which exposes  Functionalityies and can produce Business Outcome Events.

A  Business System performs System Processes and participates to System Processes or to Business Processes.

In System Processes, a  Business System is always an active participant (System Process Participant).

In Business Processes, a  Business System is either an active participant (Automated Participant) or an Instrument used by Org-Units.

A  Control Directive is a kind of Policy that provides recommendations on how to comply with Regulation Articles.

Once implemented,  Control Directives enforces any  Regulatory Framework your enterprise has to comply with.

A  Data Asset  represents the abstract structure of any kind of data that can be processed and memorized by a Business Software System.

A  Data Asset is either a Data Entity or a  Data Property.

Only Data Entitys can have identity and states.  Data Propertys only handle raw data.

 Data Assets are managed in Data Catalogs.

A  Functionality is a Business Resource Capability offered by Business System Assets (software or hardware) and aimed at delivering Information Outcomes.

A  Functionality describes WHAT a software or hardware system can provide.

 Functionality(ies) are used to express the Business System features required by people when performing their job (see Job-to-be-done).

For internal customers, these jobs correspond to Business-Process Steps described in Business Process (see Instrument)

For enterprise Customers, these jobs correspond to Job-to-be-done in the context of Customer Journeys.

An  Application is a Business Software System that provides a set of  Functionality(ies) that End Users see as a single unit.

Essentially  Applications are architectural constructions resulting from the combinaison of the following four criteria:

1) A group of  Functionality that End Users see as a single unit.

2) A managed asset (Managed Application) associated with a budget line in the context of an Application Portfolio.

3) A body of code that is seen by developers as a single unit.

4) A group of deployable software units (Deployable Application Packages) that must be installed together on one or multiple execution nodes (Computing System).

 Application is a Mezzo enterprise asset  that sits between Application System and Application Component in the decomposition of Business Software Systems.

Example: " Payroll" is an  Application that is part an " HR System" which is an Application System.

The "Payroll"  Application includes, among other things, the "Salary and Wage Calculation" Application Component.

The  Business Operations domain describes how business units operate to deliver products (goods and services) that fit their customers needs (value).

This includes:

1) the management structure that organizes responsibility and accountability : People & Accountability.

2) the processes that describe the end to end delivery of goods and services: Organization & Processes.

The  Business Operations domain has dependencies with domains providing Business Systems used to support and automate operations: Software System ArcOps and Hardware System ArcOps.

The  People & Accountability domain defines the roles that organizational members perform, so that everyone understands their responsibilities to the group.

How individuals are organized around work and responsibilities matters greatly for any organization.

Accountability charts provide more clarity around responsibilities and also show how people and teams are organized according to geography, Business Functions, product, or customer type.

A key component of an accountability chart is the greater detail it provides about responsibilities and Business Outcome Events.

A  Concrete Hardware System is a man made tangible artifact which exposes  Hardware Capability(ies) and can produce and react to Physical Outcome Events.

A  Concrete Hardware System performs System Processes and participates to System Processes or to Business Processes.

A  Concrete Hardware System can embed Computing Systems. Together with its embedded Computing Systems, a  Concrete Hardware System can also produce and react to Information Outcome Events.

A  Concrete Hardware System may be based on a set of Hardware Technology(ies).

Examples:

- Connected Drone with Online Payment App.

- 3D printer.

- Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs)

- Connected fridge providing an ordering  Functionality and of course a freezing  Hardware Capability.

- Production equipment in an assembly line (metal forging machine)

- Car

A  Business Process is a set of Business-Process Steps performed by Org-Units and/or by automated systems (Business Systems) to produce a Business Outcome Event. It is depicted as a series of Business-Process Steps, controlled by Business Events and conditions.

Business-Process Steps are carried out by the involvment of Org-Units and system resources (often Applications) as participants in the process (Participant Business Agents).

During its course of action, a  Business Process consumes or produces  Business Objects.

1) It may memorize or access  Business Objects from its Process Store.

2) It may receive  Business Objects at its boundary: Business Outcome Consumption.

3) It may signal the production of  Business Objects at its boundary: Business Outcome Production.

The course of actions of a  Business Process is constrained by the application of rules ( Business Rule Enforcement) that define how to react to what is allowed and not allowed to do,

A reference operating model is a guide to a company's policies, goals, standards, procedures and training.

The framework sets out the way the company does business and promotes a corporate culture and identity. An operational framework may also include principles of good governance and set out company values and divisions within the firm.

A  Conceptual Operating Model serves as a strategic framework for the enterprise, directing its functional division of labor to fulfill its missions and purposes.

This model provides an ideal configuration of key Operating Domains and their value-added behaviors (Value Streams) to deliver enterprise Business Outcome Events.

Unlike a reflection of the current state of operations, a  Conceptual Operating Model envisions the ideal operation landscape. It is a blueprint for the optimal functioning of Business Operations.

While it is sometimes referred to as a "business capability" model (see Gartner reference below), a  Conceptual Operating Model is not to be confused with a Business Capability Map. Despite their shared aim of framing business operations, they are different tools and serve distinct purposes:

a) A Business Capability Map is used to frame the services that business operations aimed to provide to internal or external customers. This aspect is often termed the "WHAT" in the architecture landscape.

b) A  Conceptual Operating Model is used to frame the strategic way the enterprise should "function" to fulfill these Business Capabilitys. This aspect is often termed the "HOW" of the architecture landscape.

It's important to recognize that these 'HOW' and 'WHAT' aspects are contextual and should be viewed in conjunction with the Conceptualization Levels classifications. For example, the  Conceptual Operating Model is seen as the "HOW" at the Conceptual level, but is considered as the "WHAT" at the Resource level.

A  Skill is an ability of a human resource to produce Business Outcome Events.

 Skills are acquired and refined through training and practice.

A  Software Technology is an elementary Software Technology System  used as an enabler by Software Modules.

Examples :

- Application server,

- Message server,

- Storage,

- Business information sharing,

- Operating systems,

- Navigators, etc

The  Enterprise Strategy & Roadmapping domain supports the process of analysing and optimising the delivery of  Enterprise Capability(ies) in line with the Enterprise market analysis and strategic intent.

 Enterprise Strategy & Roadmapping achieves this by capturing the capability policy / concepts, decomposing this into a capability taxonomy supported by appropriate measures of effectiveness that can be used for capability audit and gap / overlap analysis.

An  Enduring Initiative is a long term Initiative which involves roadmapping and governance. Enterprises and their Management Systems are typical  Enduring Initiatives.

1.  Enduring Initiatives are purpose-oriented.

2.  Enduring Initiatives are change management systems: they have objectives regarding the purposes they pursue, maintain and develop.

3.  Enduring Initiatives are measured to ensure they meet their  Goals.

4.  Enduring Initiatives are organized according to subsidiary levels, ensuring autonomy and ownership at each level of delegation while providing responsibility and accountability in achieving common goals.

5.  Enduring Initiatives are under the control of an associed Governing Team.

6.Governing Teams have instruments used to carry out governance: responsibility assignment, assessments, workflow, decision records, incident records.

 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.