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Tutorial 3: Capability Decomposition & Portfolio Scoring

In Tutorial 2, you established NeoBank's architectural layers and connected strategic goals to applications and cloud environments.

In this tutorial, you will build NeoBank's Business Capability Map — the foundational anchor used by CIOs and enterprise architects to evaluate IT investment, rationalize application portfolios, and track strategic coverage.

You will learn how to:

  1. Decompose business capabilities hierarchically across Levels 1, 2, and 3.
  2. Apply the Gartner TIME Framework (Invest, Migrate, Tolerate, Eliminate).
  3. Quantify capability health with Business Value and Technical Fit scores.
  4. Project a dedicated Capability Map View (capability_map).

1. Expanding the NeoBank Workspace Layout​

We will add a dedicated capability fragment under business/:

neobank/
├── main.ea
├── strategy/
│   └── goals_kpis.ea
├── business/
│   ├── actors_processes.ea
│   └── capabilities.ea                   # [NEW] Business capabilities L1-L3 with scoring
├── application/
│   └── customer_onboarding.ea
└── technology/
    └── environments.ea

2. Define the Capability Map (business/capabilities.ea)​

Create business/capabilities.ea. NeoBank structures its capabilities into strategic domains (Level 1), decomposing each into operational Level 2 sub-capabilities, and down to granular Level 3 execution functions:

neobank/business/capabilities.ea
layer "Business Architecture" {

    // Domain 1: Retail Banking Operations
    capability cap_retail_banking "1.0 Retail Banking Operations" {
        description "Core consumer banking products, deposits, lending, and transaction services"
        number "1.0"
        time "Invest"

        score {
            business_value 9.5
            tech_fit 8.8
        }

        capability cap_consumer_lending "Consumer Lending" {
            description "End-to-end unsecured personal loans and credit decisioning"
            number "1.1"
            time "Invest"
            maturity "High"

            capability cap_credit_scoring "Automated Credit Scoring" {
                description "Real-time algorithmic risk and credit scoring"
                number auto
                time "Invest"
            }
        }

        capability cap_payments_transfers "Payments & Transfers" {
            description "Domestic and international money movement and clearing"
            number "1.2"
            time "Invest"

            capability cap_real_time_payments "Real-Time Instant Payments" {
                description "FedNow and RTP instant settlement processing"
                number auto
                time "Invest"
            }
        }
    }

    // Domain 2: Customer Service & Operations
    capability cap_customer_service "2.0 Customer Service & Ops" {
        description "Customer engagement, account servicing, and contact center operations"
        number "2.0"
        time "Invest"

        capability cap_digital_onboarding "Digital Onboarding & KYC" {
            description "Self-service customer registration, ID verification, and KYC"
            number "2.1"
            time "Invest"
            maturity "High"

            score {
                business_value 9.6
                tech_fit 9.2
            }

            capability cap_identity_verification "Biometric Identity Verification" {
                description "Document validation and liveness detection"
                number auto
            }
        }

        capability cap_customer_support "Customer Support Operations" {
            description "Omnichannel inquiries, ticketing, and dispute triage"
            number "2.2"
            time "Migrate"

            capability cap_voice_telephony "Legacy PBX Voice IVR" {
                description "Traditional phone tree routing slated for retirement"
                number auto
                time "Eliminate"

                lifecycle {
                    phase Run start "2018-01-01" end "2026-12-31"
                    phase Retire start "2027-01-01"
                }
            }
        }
    }

    // Domain 3: Risk & Compliance Management
    capability cap_risk_compliance "3.0 Risk and Compliance Management" {
        description "Enterprise risk management, AML fraud detection, and regulatory filings"
        number "3.0"
        time "Invest"

        capability cap_fraud_prevention "Fraud Prevention" {
            number "3.1"
            time "Invest"

            capability cap_transaction_scoring "Real-time Transaction Fraud Scoring" {
                number auto
                time "Invest"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Realize Capabilities with Applications​

Update application/customer_onboarding.ea to connect our applications to the capabilities they deliver:

neobank/application/customer_onboarding.ea (excerpt)
    app app_mobile_banking "NeoBank Mobile App" {
        // ... existing properties ...

        relationships {
            this serves customer "Provides self-service mobile banking"
            this flows_to system_core_banking "Posts onboarding registration transactions"
            this writes data_customer_record "Persists customer KYC profile"

            // Connect application to the capability it delivers
            this realizes cap_digital_onboarding "Delivers mobile digital onboarding"
        }
    }

4. Add the Capability Map View (main.ea)​

In main.ea, add the capability_map projection view. The capability_map view type is specifically engineered to render hierarchical capability boxes with color-coded TIME and maturity indicators:

neobank/main.ea (excerpt)
    views {
        // ... previous views ...

        capability_map capability_map_view "Neo Bank Capability Map" {
            description "Comprehensive business capability map showing L1 domains through L3 capabilities with TIME classification."
            tags ["Business Architecture", "Capabilities", "TIME", "Portfolio"]

            include where layer == "Business Architecture"
            auto_layout LeftToRight
        }
    }

5. Visual Projection: capability_map_view​

default view visual diagramdefault view visual diagram

NeoBank Capability Map showing 3-level decomposition, TIME categorization, and scoring indicators

Key Features Promoted in this View:​

  • Hierarchical Nesting: Child capabilities are automatically rendered inside parent domain boxes with clean visual containment.
  • Automatic Numbering (number auto): Scapius auto-computes numbering sequences (e.g. 1.1.1, 1.1.2) while respecting explicit labels (like number "1.0").
  • TIME Heatmap Overlays: Nodes automatically receive standardized color-coded visual treatments based on their TIME categorization (Invest → Green, Migrate → Amber, Eliminate → Red).
  • Scoring Badges: Displays composite business_value and tech_fit ratings directly on capability cards to guide architectural investment decisions.

6. Validate the Capability Model​

Validate the entire workspace:

scapius validate ./neobank
Validation Successful! Workspace 'Neo Bank Enterprise Architecture' is valid.

Next Steps​

Now that your business capabilities are clearly mapped and scored, continue to Tutorial 4: Security & Governance to model trust boundaries, PCI-DSS compliance, preventive controls, and STRIDE threats.