What’s a Business Ref Model?

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A business reference model (BRM) describes the structure and operations of an organization in a hierarchical manner, allowing for a deeper understanding of how it works. It includes three main components: business areas, lines of business, and business resources. Other templates, such as technical, service, or performance reference models, link to the BRM.

Based on the functionality of an organization, a business reference model (BRM) describes the organizational structure and operations of the business in a hierarchical manner. Typically, the reference model will demonstrate how operations work, regardless of the division of labor in the organization that performs the actual functions. Some parts of the business model, however, are specifically designed to make room for other aspects of the organization to include specific business functions and processes. The purpose of these emphases in building a BRM allows the analysis of these specific components of a business, such as information technology or data flow. In addition, this focus also allows the alignment of new projects to specific functional areas of the company or organization.

Serving as a foundational conception, the business reference model allows for a deeper understanding of how the business or organization works. Purposely designed for ease of understanding, governments often use the template so citizens can better navigate how government works. Leveraging three main components to outline the model to include areas of business, lines of business, and business resources, the objective is to demonstrate the operations and functions of the entire organization and its parts. Using BRM, internal and external actors can align initiatives with specific areas of the company or organization to gain a better understanding of the parties potentially involved in that initiative.

With the outline of the business reference model, business areas generally describe all activities and functions with which the company or organization is involved. Lines of business, on the other hand, will build specific functions into each individual business area. Business resources will be expanded into lines of business to explain how line-of-business objectives are achieved. In addition to these core BRM components, the Business Areas section also branches out to describe the common attributes generally shared by each Business Area. For example, all components can share in managing the organization’s resources.

Covering the entire organization is the specific goal of the business reference model. However, there are additional templates to serve various components, which are generally for internal use. These models can include technical reference models, service reference models, or performance reference models. Each model, however, links to the business reference model, where the process for designing the target model begins. Therefore, once a business reference model is designed, all functional aspects tend to flow and revert to it.

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