Did you know BABOK v3 includes 15 new techniques for business analysis? I have been introducing the new techniques at various conferences and audiences are loving the business model canvas! As a member of the BABOK Committee, I can assure that we love it too, and are so excited to bring this new core technique to the BA community.
The business model canvas (BMC) describes how an enterprise creates, delivers, and captures value for and from its customers. Made up of 9 building blocks (see model below), it highlights key relationships and serves as a blueprint for implementing a strategy. It can be used at any level of detail to provide the context needed to help stakeholders transition from strategy to execution.
A BMC supports the solution and analysis in a variety of ways, but here are a few common questions this technique could help you answer:
- How does the new solution, product or process impact our customers, partners, costs, etc.?
- What is our current and future business model and how does this project support it?
- Does the implementation of packaged software change the business model?
- Where does a new product fit into the business model?
When you set out to use a BMC for the first time, don’t assume your BMC will be delivered as a word document printed on a standard sheet of printer paper! In most cases, this technique works best when each block has it’s own white board or flip chart sheet. A strong facilitator can use collaborative games to help the team populate each BMC block, and even prioritize the items in each block.