TOGAF Phase B outlines the business architecture steps that guide SAP project success from initiation to go live.
Enterprise architects and SAP implementation leaders often treat ERP deployments as technical system replacements, but this approach creates misalignment between business stakeholders and IT teams during requirements definition and design. TOGAF® positions Enterprise Architecture as “a method to improve business capability,” which is why Business Architecture appears as the first architecture development phase in the Architecture Development Method (ADM).
Phase B of the ADM—Business Architecture Phase—begins with the Architecture Vision and defines both current and future business structures before analyzing the gaps between them. This approach proves particularly critical for SAP projects, preventing teams from diving into Fit-to-Standard analyses and requirements definition without a clear business transformation intent.
The TOGAF® learning materials describe Phase B as creating “the Business Architecture based on the Architecture Vision, developing both Baseline Business Architecture and Target Business Architecture, performing gap analysis, and extracting candidate components for the Business Architecture Roadmap”. Phase B serves as the structured venue for organizing business processes, organizational structures, roles, business functions, and information utilization patterns while articulating the transformation agenda.
According to TOGAF® documentation, Phase B involves describing the existing Business Architecture, developing the Target Business Architecture, and analyzing the differences between them. The phase focuses on structuring business processes, organization, roles, business functions, and information utilization while framing the transformation discussion.
For SAP implementation project planning, success requires clarifying “why we’re implementing SAP” and “what we want to achieve,” defining project goals and scope, and organizing current business challenges. This thinking strongly aligns with TOGAF® Phase B’s Baseline, Target, and Gap analysis framework.
The core purpose of Business Architecture Phase in SAP projects is creating a business transformation blueprint before defining system requirements. Specifically, this phase visualizes current operations, establishes future business standardization policies, reviews organizational authority and responsibility distribution, redesigns KPIs, clarifies global template and local variance approaches, and establishes prerequisite conditions for subsequent requirements definition and solution design.
SAP implementations require Business Architecture Phase to establish at least these objectives:
TOGAF® Phase B typically produces Target Business Architecture, Baseline Business Architecture, stakeholder concern-responsive views, gap analysis results, Business Architecture Report, and updated business requirements.
| Deliverable | SAP Context Examples |
| Baseline Business Architecture | Current process maps, current organization and roles, issue inventories |
| Target Business Architecture | To-Be business processes, standardization policies, future organization and responsibility distribution, target KPIs |
| Gap Analysis Results | Current-future differences, business change points, organizational authority and data considerations |
| Business Architecture Report | Business transformation concept documents, EA-perspective business reform policy documents |
| Updated Business Requirements | Business requirements to be transferred to subsequent requirements definition and Fit-to-Standard activities |
When this phase functions effectively, SAP implementation transforms from simple package application into a transformation project connecting management objectives with business design. As a result, requirements definition discussions avoid becoming collections of functional requirements, making it easier to return to higher-level purposes when deciding which business capabilities to strengthen.
Furthermore, well-developed Business Architecture enables clear separation of areas requiring standard alignment versus areas requiring differentiation during Fit-to-Standard and template design. This proves particularly valuable for global deployments and SAP implementations spanning multiple business units and locations.
Practicing TOGAF® Phase B requires the ability to describe existing Business Architecture, design Target Architecture, and perform gap analysis. Making this effective in SAP projects demands knowledge spanning both EA methodology and SAP standard processes plus business domain expertise:
SAP projects with weak Business Architecture Phase see requirements definition discussions biased toward screens, reports, and individual requests. Without visibility into business reform priorities, this leads to add-on proliferation, template collapse, and location-specific exception expansion.
Conversely, organizing business capabilities, processes, roles, KPIs, and standardization principles in Phase B enables explaining “why this design” in subsequent phases. This thinking holds higher value for projects like SAP S/4HANA where leveraging standard functionality proves critical.
For enterprises seeking SAP implementation success, TOGAF® ADM Phase B is not mere theory—it’s practical design work that visualizes business transformation issues and connects ERP implementation to management transformation.
When approaching SAP from an Enterprise Architecture perspective, the first question should not be “which functions to implement” but rather “which business capabilities, through which business structures, with what degree of standardization”. Business Architecture Phase is precisely where you answer that question.
Please refer to this article for topics related to Enterprise Architecture (EA).
Enterprise Architecture – Insight Arc | SAP, Enterprise Architecture & Supply Chain Strategy
Parts of this article were developed with reference to generative AI suggestions and were reviewed, refined, and supplemented based on the author’s professional expertise and judgment.
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