What process turns a set of business capabilities into a structure that communicates the right amount of detail to different stakeholder groups?

Business Capability Mapping is the formal process of identifying, defining, and structuring what a business does, independent of how it does it. The output of this process is a capability map, which is a hierarchical structure. This hierarchical nature, often organized into levels (e.g., Level 1, 2, 3), is precisely what allows the model to communicate different amounts of detail. Executives might review Level 1 capabilities for strategic planning, while solution architects might drill down to Level 3 for project scoping. Therefore, mapping is the process that creates this versatile structure for various stakeholder groups.

A. Layering: This is a technique used within the mapping process to create the hierarchical structure, but it is not the name of the entire process itself.
B. Stratification: This term, while meaning to arrange in layers, is not the standard terminology used for this process within The Open Group's business architecture framework.
C. Categorization: This is the act of grouping related capabilities. While part of the overall process, it does not inherently create the hierarchical levels required for showing different amounts of detail.

1. The Open Group. (2019). The Open Group Guide: Business Capabilities (Document No. G189). Section 3.1, "The Business Capability Mapping Process", explicitly names and describes the end-to-end process. Section 2.3, "What is a Business Capability Map?", clarifies that the map is "typically represented as a hierarchy" to provide different views for different stakeholders.

2. The Open Group. (2022). TOGAF® Standard, 10th Edition. The TOGAF Leader’s Guide to Establishing and Evolving an EA Capability. Chapter 10, "Using the TOGAF Framework with Business-Oriented Architecture Styles", discusses Business Capability Mapping as the key technique for creating a structured, hierarchical view of the business for strategic communication.