Business Architect Leads Digital Transformation Opportunities in 2021

2020 has been a year like no other — a year marked by the incalculable loss of life; by the economic devastation of a pandemic that has disrupted people, families, governments, and economies around the world.   As enterprises have reacted to the pandemic, new business trends and priorities have emerged, in particular the acceleration of the digital transformation of key business processes, for internal as well as for external stakeholders – starting with the customers.  

The digitization of business processes has been underway for some time and has become a competitive advantage across many industry verticals.   The pandemic has accelerated this trend and there is no reason to believe that the trend will slow down once the pandemic ends.

“Digital Native” enterprises, i.e. those born with strong digital capabilities have leveraged this competitive advantage to expand, as more consumers moved to access services and products online.  Examples include: Amazon, Shopify, Facebook, Salesforce, Google, Etsy, and Netflix. 

But non-digital Native industry verticals (ex. Agriculture and Mining) are also investing in digital capabilities.  Two Canadian examples are Nutrien Ag Solutions and Teck Resources. 

BA Makers: Heroes of your Digital Transformation

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”

Margaret Mead (cultural anthropologist, 1901 – 1978)

I take every opportunity to listen to what people say and write about Digital Transformation: how they go about driving innovation, how they deal with the ever-shifting goalposts, how they break the invisible cultural barriers… With more or less verve, digital pundits enthusiastically advocate the virtues of embracing change, often with a commentary on the way Amazon institutionalized 2-pizza teams, Netflix implemented DevOps, Ocado used cutting-edge technology and automation to transform the online grocery space…

But rarely understood or recognized is the essential role played by Business Analysts and Business Architects, which I’ll collectively refer to as BAs, as I explain further below. In my experience, BAs are the unsung heroes of Digital Transformation. BAs are the change agents who connect, clarify, visualize, storify, orchestrate and transform. To reach their potential as a community, BAs must come together as a movement – the BA Makers.