About The BACOE™

The Business Architecture Center Of Excellence™

The Business Architecture Center Of Excellence™ (BACOE.org) provides a universal understanding and competence forum on “Business Architecture” for Business Architects, Analysts, Management, Executives, Technologists, and Academicians interested in developing, implementing, and managing the highest returning and most cost-effective Business Architecture.

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Who we are | Where we come from | What we do | What We Offer | FAQ

WATCH: Overview Introduction to BACOE.org

Who Are We?

The Business Architecture Center of Excellence (BACOE) is a vendor-neutral, practitioner-based organization solely dedicated to Business Architecture and the Business Architect.

We are the definitive source for all aspects of Business Architecture.

We provide the Business Architecture communities with continuing evolving best-practice holistic environments for the practice of Business Architecture. Business Architecture for Practitioners by Practitioners™. The Business Architect Industry Practitioner Standard.

Our Mission: To Advance the Understanding And Implementation Of Business Architecture

Assumptions

The profession of Business Architecture requires a source of understanding that is based on actual practitioner experience and successes.
Business Architecture is fundamental for the successful participation of organizations in the “new” world, and the base of knowledge of Business Architecture that these organizations rely upon requires professional administration, skills verification, and continuous professional development.
Business Architecture is the principal structural mechanism for:
1. Addressing continuing and accelerating rates of change through the use of Architecture Models
2. Explicitly Visualizing, Developing, Presenting, and Understanding Business Strategy
3. Aligning Technology and Application Strategy with Business Strategy
4. Providing Technology and Application Implementation Models, based on Architecture Models, for Enterprise Management and Systems Management
5. Reuse of Data, Processes, and Technologies
6. Managing the Knowledge Base of the Business
Business Architecture best practices have been proven to be best developed by looking at the past “ages” (Nomadic, Agrarian, Mercantile, and Industrial), and understanding the similarities and differences. The “Information Age / Knowledge Age” can gain significant insights from these past learnings, as it matures. There is no proven “special privilege” of the Information Age / Knowledge Age that would suggest otherwise.
An understanding of Business Architecture requires the following components to be considered to be complete:
1. A Process
2. A Classification, Taxonomy, and Framework
3. A Work Breakdown Structure and Methodology
4. A Business Architect Maturity Model
5. An Organization Change Model, Process, Methodology, and Work Breakdown Structure
6. A Set of Business Understanding Components
7. A Set of Technology Understanding Components
8. An Understanding of Architecture Models
9. An Understanding of Implementation Models
10. Components geared toward “short-term value”, that can be built upon to provide “long-term value”
11. Templates and tools to provide immediate practitioner guidance
12. Criteria to allow practitioners to be recognized for growing competencies, as their experience grows, based on actual Business Architecture activities

BACOE Board Of Directors

Mike Boeselager

Director Enterprise Architect
Briggs & Stratton

James F. Rudisill

Director, IT Architecture
Citigroup

Michael DeChambeau

Vice President
Fidelity Investments

Hong Zhang

Chief Architect
General Motors Corporation

Peter Milligan

Director, Enterprise Architecture
GlaxoSmithKline

Carol A. Delbene

Technology Director, Global Technology Solutions – Architecture
Information Technology Services
Johnson & Johnson

Joshua Stalker

Director Strategic Management
Lockheed Martin

Kaz Okada

Consultant
NTT DATA AgileNet

Mohammad Dadashzadeh

Professor of Management Information Systems
Director of ATiB – Applied Technology in Business
Oakland University

Rolf Siegers

Architecture Institutionalization and Sustainment Lead
Engineering Fellow
Raytheon Company

Steven I. Cooper

Partner
Former CIO American Red Cross, Federal aviation authority, department of commerce & Department of Homeland Security
Strativest

Gary E. Rivord

Deputy Director, Computer Systems and Technologies
Sandia National Labs

Ed Rybicki

Enterprise Information Services Leader
Delphi automotive

Jeff Gades

Manager Architecture
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts

John Roach

Enterprise Strategy and Architecture
Microsoft

Thomas (Tom) F. Signor

Team Leader, Systems Architecture – Information
Systems Architect, Enterprise Architecture Team
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield

We only have ONE facilitator who is the leading practitioner in Business Architecture...

Meet Sam

SAMUEL B. (Sam) HOLCMAN is the Chairman of the Pinnacle Business Group, Inc., the Managing Director of the Enterprise Architecture Center Of Excellence (EACOE), and the Business Architecture Center Of Excellence (BACOE), and the President of the Zachman Institute for Framework Advancement (ZIFA). He is considered the “practitioners practitioner” in Enterprise Architecture and Business Architecture, and the leading implementer and world-wide educator and trainer in Enterprise Architecture and Business Architecture methodologies and techniques.

The Pinnacle Business Group, Inc. and its associated organizations provide its clients with innovative, yet practical solutions to a range of business and systems related challenges and activities. Mr. Holcman conceptualized and constructed a unique look at system development methodologies, which resulted in the highly regarded ForeSightTM methodology and methodology management product.

He has developed a strategic planning process that is used by many Fortune 500 companies, and is the co-developer of the widely used accelerated analysis (JAD-like) technique known as Rapid Analysis. He has also developed an innovative approach to Business Process Re-Engineering known as Business Process VisualizationTM and Organization Network AnalysisTM.

In association with Mr. John Zachman, he formed The Zachman Institute for Framework Advancement (ZIFA), to explore, explain, and share the concepts of enterprise architecture. He has developed the Intellectual Capital Maturity ModelTM and the Enterprise Architecture Maturity Model. He has also developed and published works on Cooperatively Optimized Relationships (COR). To better understand an organizations “DNA”, Sam led the development of The Enterprise FrameworkTM and The Business Architecture FrameworkTM. Both The Enterprise Framework, and The Business Architecture Framework have received worldwide acclaim for their understanding and usability, while maintaining theoretical purity. He recently published “Reaching the Pinnacle—a Methodology of Business Understanding, Technology Planning, and Change”.

Sam Holcman, Chairman of the Business Architecture Center of Excellence (BACOE)

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Sam was with Ford Motor Company for 11 years, Vice President of a robotics and factory automation firm for two years, a senior member of a technology delegation to the People’s Republic of China, and a member of a technology delegation to the Commonwealth of Independent States (Soviet Union).

Sam has a Bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering and Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has been elected to Eta Kappa Nu (electrical engineering honors society), and Tau Beta Pi (engineering honors society), and is a member of numerous societies and professional organizations, and is a frequent speaker at seminars around the world.

Where We Come From

BACOE And ZIFA

ZIFA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Pinnacle Business Group, Inc., was formed by John Zachman and Samuel (Sam) Holcman.

ZIFA’s published mission statement was “…to exercise the Zachman Framework for advancing the conceptual and implementation states of the art in Business Architecture”.

How BACOE And Its Business Architecture Has Evolved From ZIFA

John Zachman devoted his efforts to advancing the understanding of his framework (conceptual states), and Sam Holcman devoted his efforts to understanding and implementing the framework concepts through methodology development, framework elaborations, and actual client-based Enterprise Architecture and Business Architecture consulting engagements (implementation states). Under ZIFA, John and Sam conducted numerous annual conferences, and education seminars.

John maintained a “neutral” stance to all, including not “endorsing” works and efforts in Business Architecture that are not his direct personal efforts. He felt that he could not “endorse” any approach, methodology, or technique. The general marketplace was, and is still somewhat confused, as to the separate but related understandings of the differences between frameworks and methodologies. This situation resulted in numerous organizations developing their own framework/methodology hybrids – a very unfortunate situation for the Business Architecture profession and marketplace. People interested in Business Architecture were continually asking, not just, what is a framework, or what is Business Architecture, but how do we actually develop a Business Architecture.

Without a strong coupling between a framework and a methodology, there is significantly less value to those that want to “do” Business Architecture. Business Architecture advancements have come and will come, from both theory and practice – with practice enhancing and validating the theoretical basis of Enterprise Architecture. John decided he could not “partner” directly with any individual, and maintain his neutrality.

John continues to advance his framework understanding. Sam continues to advance Business Architecture through research and practice, in both frameworks and methodologies. Therefore, there was no reason to maintain the ZIFA entity.

The Business Architecture Center Of Excellence (BACOE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Pinnacle Business Group, Inc., maintains the mission of advancing the conceptual and implementation states of the art in Business Architecture.

What We Do

Set The Global Practitioner Standard In Business Architecture

The Business Architecture Center of Excellence (BACOE and its predecessor/parallel organizations) have invested over 40 years in developing a robust base of knowledge for executing architecture and model-driven business and technology planning, business process engineering, and application development.

These techniques, methodologies, and processes are recognized as best practices and are used globally.

We Benefit The Organization And The Practitioner.

In this era of Organizational change, the need to link sound corporate strategy and information strategy has never been greater. Technical strategies alone are not capable of ensuring alignment and providing business value. To benefit from the information resources that are key to your organization's growth, it is essential to have a Business Architecture aligned with your Business Strategy that aligns with your Business Goals and is capable of effectively addressing and managing risk. Our Certified Business Architecture professionals can help ensure your enterprise’s success. Organizations employing or contracting BACOE Certified Business Architects understand the need for professionals who have credentials that are known and respected around the world.

Our Certified Business Architects have the proven ability to perform Business Architecture activities with globally accepted standards and guidelines to ensure that the enterprise’s information technology and business systems are aligned with Business Goals, are capable of change in continually changing business and technology climates, can reuse enterprise systems assets, and are cost-effective. Organizations are in search of practitioners that are up to date with current proven practical practices and are committed to their profession. BACOE Business Architect Certification are these practitioners, and these professionals maintain skills that are imperative in today’s competitive environment.

BACOE Certified Business Architects have committed to maintaining skills, following a professional path that continually allows for skills enhancement and demonstration, knowledge gain, and professional development, and are distinguished from other Enterprise Architects. Our Business Architects with advanced certifications have demonstrated skills, attended a rigorous education and training course, continue to demonstrate skills by periodic re-certification, and have a desire to be leaders in their profession.

We Utilize Practice-Based Training And Strategy

While nearly all enterprises build information systems, the end objective is not just an information system, but a flexible, changeable, and reusable asset that will meet current and future business needs. Few organizations today use model-driven approaches that truly separate Architecture (Engineering) from Implementation (Manufacturing).

Throughout recorded history, as complexity increases, separating Architecture from Implementation becomes an imperative. These experiences can now be provided through our course of study.

As human beings, we are naturally “visually” oriented. We cannot “see” the essence of a problem or solution in one thousand pages of text. As importantly, one representation that suits both business personnel, and technology personnel is not possible in disciplines outside of Business Architecture, so it is probable that the same difficulty of looking for “one representation” for Business Architecture will occur. The BACOE and its base of knowledge, through actual Business Architecture training, practitioning, courses, workshops, consulting, and practitioner professionalization activities, provides the only holistic and comprehensive environment for the Business Architect. This environment allows the Business Architect to follow an experience-driven disciplined architecture process, using models to help enterprise stakeholders envision, plan, and develop cohesive, flexible, and adaptive solutions that deliver high-value, and become enduring Enterprise assets.

The Architectures Center of Excellence & BACOE, are the leading practitioner-based associations for the Business Architecture profession. We set professional standards, conduct research, provide information, and promote professional and career development. We offer practice-based certification, professional networking, and knowledge development opportunities.

What We Offer

Business Architecture Training And Certification

You and your team members can become trained and certified with the BACOE Business Architecture four-day workshops. Learn more about what the workshop consists of and how the training and practice will benefit your career and organization.

About Training and Certifications

Consulting

Business architecture and strategic planning is a kind of master blueprint for charting out the inter-alignment of business planning, operations, automation aspects as well as technological infrastructure. Business architecture, defined thus, has to link together business strategy, everyday processes, and the IT strategy of an organization, using models to show the current state as well as how it can move to a desired future state.

Our Business architecture consulting services let you draw from an experienced pool of knowledge and services to optimize your business and IT strategies. We will help you provide a roadmap whereby both business and IT can fuel each other’s strategies.

About Solutions and services

Virtual BA Services

This service gives you access to the expertise of our consulting Enterprise Architects, either on-site or remote, so you can achieve your BA Goals more quickly, efficiently, and economically.

We become your virtual Enterprise Architect, providing the guidance and expertise when you need it.

Applying expertise gained from Enterprises across a wide range of businesses, industries, and government organizations, we will ensure your Enterprise Architecture efforts are optimized and aligned with your strategic goals.

ABout On-demand Services

Executive Briefings

We offer management-level briefings about Business Architecture – from four hours and up, depending on your needs.

These sessions provide a management understanding of the central issues from a business and/or technology perspective, and to discuss the potential opportunities of Business Architecture for your organization.

The sessions may be tailored to specific areas of management interest. Please contact us for pricing.

Why C-suite and Management need Architecture

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why the Business Architecture Center of Excellence (BACOE)?

The Business Architecture Center of Excellence (BACOE) is the vendor-neutral, practitioner-based organization solely dedicated to Business Architecture and the Business Architect. We provide the Business Architecture communities with continuing evolving best-practice holistic environments for the practice of Business Architecture.

Our certification approach is simple and straightforward – learn the practice of Business Architecture, actually perform Business Architecture, have that performance reviewed by the worlds most experience Business Architects, and receive the appropriate level of certification. You gain experience, use your knowledge and the knowledge of other practitioners, add to the knowledge base, and continue to grow the profession.

Why Should I Care?

The BACOE provides the recognized practitioning standard for Business Architects. As you review the workshop outlines, you will see the most comprehensive and complete base of understanding in the profession. Certification through the BACOE will provide you with a referenceable standard, and is the benchmark for the Business Architecture practitioning professions. You will be recognized for your achievements – now and in the future.

Certifying against a defined knowledge base is crucial to advance the profession. All professional disciplines begin with a base of understanding as a reference point. The BACOE Business Architecture Certification processes follow this professional discipline. Without this base of knowledge, the results of the Business Architecture will be inconsistent, and difficult to verify. As an example, chemistry was alchemy until Mendeleev defined the chemical periodic table of elements. Once the periodic table of the elements was defined, a base of understanding was developed. From this understanding base, alchemy could be transformed to chemistry and “chemical engineering”. The chemical engineering profession then flourished. Numerous other parallels in other disciplines can be drawn with the same positive conclusions.

Our advisory Board of Directors are from the partitioning community – we are truly vendor neutral. The BACOE accepts no funding or support from outside concerns – we are strictly here for the Business Architecture Practitioner community. Of course we welcome software vendors and service vendors to our community – all should practice from the same knowledge base.

Finally, with the BACOE, and only with the BACOE, you get a consistent instructional experience. We provide a single consistent practitioner-based workshop environment, guaranteed to be consistent – one instructor, one consistent and timely base of understanding, and the highest possible learning experience.

Who is Eligible for Certification?

By packaging all requirements in one comprehensive workshop (with the exception of the advanced certification requirement of actual Business Architecture practice), all guesswork and inconsistencies are taken out of the process. The Certification received is consistent and practice-based. Everyone is measured against the same criteria base of proficiency – the only way to assure professional results across the community.

Can I Benefit from the Certification workshop if I am not Seeking Certification?

The workshop will provide valuable insight for all that manage, interface, or desire an understanding of Business Architecture and Business Architects. Certification is an option for those attending this workshop.

Please see our registration page for current pricing. The workshop fee includes:

A Business Architecture Process
A Business Architecture Classification, Taxonomy, and Framework
A Business Architecture Work Breakdown Structure and Methodology
A Business Architect Maturity Model
An Organization Change Model, Process, Methodology and Work Breakdown Structure
A Set of Business Understanding Components
A Set of Technology Understanding Components
An Understanding of Business Architecture Models
An Understanding of Business Implementation Models Components geared toward “short-term value”, that can be built upon to provide “long-term value”
Templates and tools to provide immediate practitioner guidance
Criteria to allow practitioners to be recognized for growing competencies as their experience grows, based on actual Business Architecture enablement activities
Classroom presentation and workshop materials

What Does it Cost?

All BACOE Members will receive a certificate, lapel pin, and a membership card, colored to denote the appropriate classification, and noting the expiration date of the classification certification. If desired, a BACOE Member may request their name, classification level, and expiration date of the classification be posted on our website. The appropriate certification logo can be used by the Certified BACOE Business Architect in correspondence.

How do People Know I am BACOE Certified?

Initial Certification takes place at the end of the Certification workshop, upon successful completion of the extensive classroom exercises. Senior, Distinguished, and Fellow designations require additional submissions and reviews. Certification of these advanced designations usually takes thirty days after successful submissions are received, and the evaluation criteria met. Each candidate for advanced Certification submits an individualized plan for these certification levels.

How Long will it take to get my Business Architecture Certification?

You will be evaluated by Certified BACOE Business Architects that have at least ten years of experience in Business Architecture and the knowledge of comprehensive techniques represented by the BACOE Certification workshops. Our objective it to get you certified, not to prevent certification. All of our staff are practicing Business Architects – the BACOE is in existence for practitioners, and run by practitioners.

Who is Reviewing my Work and What are their Qualifications?

What Should be in my Individualized Plan for Advanced Certification?

An individualized plan should contain a profile of how the candidate intends to demonstrate advanced Business Architecture skills. The focus is on the defined artifacts that are an Business Architecture. Additionally, project management, business understanding, and organization skills demonstration should be in the individualized plan. All of these components are part of the BACOE Certification workshops, and part of a seasoned Business Architecture skill set.

BACOE Advanced Certification require demonstrating actual Business Architecture and Business Architecture artifacts. As examples, this would include models, project plans, benefit testimonials, Business Architecture documents, surveys, etc. BACOE will accept materials with some redaction. Confidentiality agreements can be executed.

Professional Certification in most professions are limited in time. BACOE Certification is consistent with this concept. BACOE Certification for a Business Architect is valid for two years. Advanced categories of BACOE Certification are valid for three years. Certification renewal has the same requirements as initial Certification.

Do I have to renew my Certification?

Can I Display my BACOE Certification on My Own Web Site, Business Cards, Etc.?

Yes, as long as the Certification remains valid.