Insight · TOGAF ADM

TOGAF Phase B: Business Architecture in Sparx EA — Capability Maps, Processes and Gaps

By Sparx Services · December 12, 2025

The short version: TOGAF TOGAF Phase B produces four deliverables — a baseline business architecture, a target business architecture, a capability gap analysis, and roadmap components that feed Phase E. In Sparx EA you build them on the ArchiMate business layer: capability maps with heat mapping, BPMN process models, organization-structure elements, and value stream diagrams. The gap analysis compares baseline and target capability profiles and outputs a prioritized list of capability changes that drives the Phase C application and data decisions.

Phase B is where business and IT architecture converge. Done well, it answers one question with model-based evidence rather than consultant opinion: which business capabilities need investment, in what order, and why.

The four Phase B deliverables

Phase B has a clear input-output structure that many practitioners shortcut. The inputs are the approved Phase A outputs — the Architecture Vision, the Statement of Architecture Work, and the principles — plus any existing baseline documentation. The four outputs are distinct, and each lands in the model as a package of elements rather than a narrative document.

Output 01

Baseline business architecture

A structured description of the current-state business: how the organization is structured, what capabilities it has, what processes it runs, and how value flows through it. In Sparx EA this is a package of diagrams and model elements, not prose.

Output 02

Target business architecture

The desired future state — specific capability profiles, process designs, and organizational models that trace back to the goals and drivers established in Phase A. Specific, not aspirational.

Output 03

Capability gap analysis

A structured comparison of baseline and target capability profiles. Each capability is assessed on current maturity, target maturity, and gap priority. The output feeds the roadmap directly.

Output 04

Roadmap components

Work packages and capability increments that translate the gap analysis into initiative sequences. These are architecture-level groupings of change, refined later in Phase E — not detailed project plans.

Sparx EA artifacts for Phase B

Capability map. The capability map is the central Phase B artifact. Model capabilities as ArchiMate Capability elements — available with the ArchiMate 3 MDG Technology — arranged in a hierarchy: L1 strategic capabilities decomposing to L2 and L3 operational capabilities.

Add the same set of tagged values to every capability element:

baseline_maturity — scored 1–5 against a defined maturity scale
target_maturity — the agreed target for the program horizon
strategic_priority — High/Medium/Low, agreed with sponsors
capability_owner — the business role accountable for the capability

With those tagged values in place, Sparx EA's heat map feature renders the capability map as a color-coded maturity view: red is a critical gap, amber needs improvement, green is at target. This is the single most useful executive artifact Phase B produces.

BPMN process models. For key capabilities with significant process complexity, build BPMN 2.0 process models and link each one to the capability it enacts using an ArchiMate Realization relationship. That gives you a traceable link from process to capability — useful for both gap analysis and Phase C application mapping.

Organization structure. Model the organization with ArchiMate Business Actor and Organization Unit elements. Capture reporting lines, accountability, and the relationship between organization units and the capabilities they own. This feeds the workforce and organizational-change components of the roadmap.

Value stream. ArchiMate 3 introduced the Value Stream element. Model the end-to-end value-delivery flow using Value Stage elements linked to the capabilities that enable each stage. Executives get a business-language view of how the organization creates value, and where gaps or inefficiencies sit in that flow.

The capability gap analysis

The gap analysis is where Phase B produces its hardest-edged output. Do not do it in a spreadsheet. Do it in the model.

In Sparx EA, build a Capability Gap Analysis view using the Relationship Matrix or a custom SQL query against the repository. The query returns each capability element with its baseline_maturity, target_maturity, and the calculated gap (target − baseline). Filter to capabilities where the gap is greater than zero and strategic_priority is High.

The result is a model-driven gap analysis that is always current, because it draws from live tagged values — not a static spreadsheet that goes stale within a week of the workshop.

For each capability with a significant gap, create a Gap element linked to both the baseline and target capability instances, and tag it:

gap_type — New capability / Enhanced capability / Decommission
gap_driver — which Phase A business driver this addresses
phase_c_impact — which application or data changes are implied

That last tagged value is what connects Phase B to Phase C. When the Phase C team asks "which applications need to change?", the answer is traceable from business-capability gap to application implication — not reverse-engineered after the fact.

The traceability chain — driver → goal → capability → process → application — is what distinguishes a model-based EA program from a document-based one.

Heat mapping capabilities, step by step

The heat map is the artifact that gets Phase B outputs in front of executives. Here is the exact configuration in Sparx EA.

Open the capability map and select the elements

Open the capability map diagram and select all Capability elements you want to color. Heat mapping operates on the current selection, so scope it to the level you are presenting.

Set the tagged value as the color source

Open Element Properties → Appearance and configure the color mapping to use baseline_maturity as the source value. This binds the visual to live model data rather than a manual fill.

Define the color rules

Map the scores: 1–2 = red, 3 = amber, 4–5 = green. Keep the same scale for baseline and target so the two views are directly comparable.

Toggle three views for the briefing

Use diagram filters to switch between baseline-maturity, target-maturity, and gap-size heat maps. Presenting all three in sequence tells the complete story: where we are, where we need to be, and where the biggest gaps sit.

Connecting Phase B to Phase C

The single most important Phase B output for Phase C is the capability-to-application dependency. Every capability in the target architecture that needs new or changed application support has to be documented. In Sparx EA:

Create ArchiMate Association relationships between each business Capability element and the Application Component elements that currently serve it (baseline).
For capabilities with gaps, create Serving relationships from candidate Application Components in the target architecture.
Where no application exists to serve a target capability, flag it with app_gap = True.

The Phase C architect starts from this output. Capabilities flagged app_gap = True drive the application rationalization and procurement decisions in Phase C; capabilities with existing application associations inform the baseline application architecture. Because all of this lives in the repository as structured tagged values, it can also be exported to a live Power BI dashboard — so the investment logic is visible as current data, not a slide deck that is six weeks out of date.

How many capabilities should a Phase B capability map contain?

For an enterprise-level engagement, L1 typically has 8–15 strategic capabilities. L2 adds 3–6 sub-capabilities per L1 capability, producing 30–60 L2 elements. L3 is optional and appropriate only for capabilities in scope for detailed design. A map with more than 80 total capabilities usually means capability has been confused with process — review the definitions before proceeding.

What is the difference between a capability and a business process?

A capability is what the organization can do — a stable, enduring description of ability. A process is how it does it — a sequence of activities. Capabilities change slowly (years); processes change more often (months). That matters for Phase B because capabilities map to long-term investment decisions, while processes map to operational improvement. In Sparx EA, capabilities are ArchiMate Capability elements; processes are BPMN Process or ArchiMate Business Process elements.

Should we model as-is processes if they are going to be replaced?

Yes, selectively. Model as-is processes for capabilities where the gap analysis shows significant change — these are the ones where understanding current state is necessary to design the future state. For capabilities already at target maturity, a lightweight description is enough. Modeling every as-is process regardless of gap priority is the most common Phase B time-sink.

How do we get business stakeholders to validate the capability map?

Run a half-day facilitated workshop with the heat map as the centerpiece. Do not show stakeholders a raw Sparx EA diagram — export the heat map to a presentation format. Walk through each L1 capability, confirm the baseline maturity rating, and agree the target. Record disagreements as assumptions in the model. This is the most valuable hour of Phase B.

What if the organization has no existing capability model?

Start with an industry reference model — BIAN for banking, TM Forum eTOM for telco, APQC for cross-industry. Import the reference framework into Sparx EA as a baseline, then tailor it. Reference models give you roughly 70% of the capability taxonomy in a day rather than a week, and they keep your definitions consistent with industry benchmarks.

How long does a thorough Phase B take?

For a mid-sized enterprise (3,000–10,000 employees, 50–200 applications), expect six to twelve weeks — shorter with good baseline documentation, longer when stakeholder availability is constrained. Shortcutting Phase B produces a roadmap the business does not trust, because it cannot trace the investment logic back to validated capability gaps.

Make Phase B a repeatable practice

If your organization needs a structured business architecture capability — a governed capability model, a heat-mapping practice, and the Sparx EA configuration to support it — Sparx Services delivers the framework, working examples, and team uplift that turn Phase B into a repeatable practice rather than a one-off exercise. It is also where AI Augmented Architecture earns its keep: once the model is structured, the mechanical work of capturing and comparing capability profiles is exactly the kind of task AI can carry. Start from where your architects spend their day.

Turn Phase B into a model that funds the roadmap.

Talk to a practitioner about building a governed capability model and heat-mapping practice on your Sparx EA repository.

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