In this article, we present Ardoq's approach to the Business Value Stream solution (BVS), including why it is valuable for enterprises, how value streams can be used in Ardoq, and the different aspects to consider when using them.
Introduction
A Business Value Stream (BVS) is a high-level, strategic view of how an organization creates and delivers value to its stakeholders, including customers, employees, partners, and shareholders. Unlike Lean value streams, which focus on the operational view, business value streams focus on the broader business capabilities and strategic activities required to achieve organizational objectives.
Businesses find BVS useful for strategically aligning their operations, capabilities, and resources with their overall goals and delivering customer value.
Using the Business Architecture Guild diagram below, we can see that value streams provide the perspective of how value is created for the stakeholders:
What is the purpose of Ardoq’s Business Value Streams Solution?
Ardoq’s Business Value Stream Solution enables organizations to deliver maximum value to their customers by managing, optimizing, and continuously improving the flow of value across all processes, capabilities, and teams. It aligns strategy, operations, and technology to focus on delivering business outcomes efficiently and enhancing collaboration, thereby answering critical questions about how value is created and delivered strategically across an organization. It helps leaders focus on customer needs, optimize business capabilities, drive alignment, and continuously improve their ability to deliver value efficiently and effectively.
This solution addresses the following questions:
What are the key stages and capabilities required to deliver this value?
What are the major stages in the value stream?
Which business capabilities and/or business processes support these stages?
What value are we delivering, and who are the key stakeholders?
What is the desired business outcome?
Who are the stakeholders?
These questions can be answered by:
Defining your value proposition
Mapping your Business Value Streams
Identifying the major stages and Business Capabilities
Mapping out the Stakeholders and dependencies
Mapping value streams, particularly in a business architecture context, provides a clear, end-to-end view of how value flows to the stakeholders.
Below are some key benefits of this practice:
Facilitates Customer Centric Alignment: Viewing business capabilities through the lens of a value stream enables a customer-centric approach to business analysis and planning, ensuring that value creation is aligned with stakeholder needs. By focusing on how value flows across the organization, this approach shifts the perspective from internal operations to delivering meaningful outcomes, fostering a deeper understanding of customer expectations, and optimizing business capabilities accordingly.
Improves End-to-End Transparency: Mapping captures the handoffs, interactions, and dependencies across different functions, exposing hidden inefficiencies or silos. Because of this comprehensive view, leaders can make more informed decisions about where to invest time and resources for maximum benefit.
Improves Strategic and Capability Focus: Each stage of the value stream can be tied back to the organization’s core capabilities, ensuring improvements are deliberate and linked to strategic priorities. This alignment closes the gap between vision and execution, ensuring investments in capabilities directly support the most critical parts of the value stream.
Facilitates Data-Driven Continuous Improvement: With clearly defined stages, organizations can set metrics to measure performance and quality at each step, uncover root causes of issues, and track progress. This creates a virtuous cycle of feedback, leading to iterative refinements and sustaining long-term operational excellence.
Scope and Rationale
Our goal with the Business Value Stream solution is to map a perspective of the enterprise focused on the actual value provided by each business capability and process. BVS provides valuable insight, from a few simple steps, that can open up new opportunities to make an impact on productivity and efficiency.
What do we mean by Value?
Value in business value streams is about creating a positive, useful, or satisfying outcome for whoever depends on that set of activities, ensuring that the flow of work (the stream) aligns with genuine stakeholder needs and expectations.
Value is defined by whoever receives it, be that an external customer, an internal employee, a partner, or even a regulatory body. It is stakeholder-centric. If the recipient recognises it as beneficial or satisfying a requirement, that constitutes value. But it is not just about recognising that it has value, but that it has sufficient value for the customer to pay the cost of generating that value.
In the value stream, the value is typically realized at completion of the high-level flow, meaning it is outcome-focused. But the value can be both tangible (reduced costs, faster delivery, increased revenue, etc.) and intangible (better customer experience, brand loyalty, compliance, etc.). In a value stream, value is designed to fulfil a specific need, such as “Onboard a new customer”. It exists to deliver a meaningful result that addresses that need.
What is a Value Stream?
A value stream is a strategic tool that helps businesses visualize how they deliver value across their entire organization. It supports alignment, collaboration, and prioritization by focusing on business outcomes and capabilities rather than operational details.
A value stream provides a holistic view of value creation by identifying key stages, stakeholders, and capabilities involved in delivering value. This helps businesses optimize their resources, prioritize investments, and achieve their long-term strategic goals.
Key Characteristics of Business Value Streams
Customer-Focused:
The value stream is centered on the value delivered to customers or other stakeholders. It helps the organization focus on outcomes that matter most to them.
Strategic (Not Process-Oriented):
Business value streams are not concerned with the details of operational processes. Instead, they define the major value-adding stages defined by value, not by other factors, amount of effort, for example, or system/process boundary. Delivering value across the organization it often involves multiple departments or business units.
Aligned with Business Capabilities:
Each stage in the value stream corresponds to a set of business capabilities (e.g., product development, marketing, sales, compliance) necessary to deliver value.
Supports Business Objectives:
Value streams are designed to help organizations achieve key business goals, such as improving customer satisfaction, increasing revenue, or reducing time-to-market.
Cross-Functional:
Business value streams often span multiple functions, departments, or teams. They provide a holistic view of how different parts of the organization contribute to value delivery.
High-Level Stages (Not Tasks):
Value streams are defined by high-level stages such as "Develop Product Concept" or "Deliver Service." These stages are not detailed tasks but represent key milestones in delivering value.
There is an excellent piece on the difference between Business Capabilities, Processes, and Value Streams in the document What Are the Differences Between Business Capabilities, Processes, and Value Streams?
Ownership of Value streams
Identifying a Value Stream Owner (VSO) is critical for aligning accountability, improving flow, and ensuring customer value is delivered effectively across functions.
How to Identify a Value Stream Owner
The following steps will help you identify the right person (or role) to own a value stream:
1. Start with the Value Stream's purpose
Ask: What is the end-to-end outcome this value stream delivers? For example, to “Deliver Offerings,” the goal might be “Deploy high-quality, usable software into the hands of users.”
2. Find the role most responsible for end-to-end outcomes
Look for someone who understands the full flow (from idea to delivery or from lead to revenue) and can influence cross-functional collaboration (not just a silo). They must have accountability for business outcomes, not only operational outputs
3. Align with existing roles where possible
Common matches for Value Stream Owner roles include:
Value Stream | Likely Owner Role |
Discover Needs | Head of Strategy, Chief Product Officer |
Design Solutions | Head of Product, UX Director |
Deliver Offerings | CTO, VP of Engineering, or DevOps Lead |
Market and Sell | CMO, Head of Growth, Sales VP |
Support and Retain | Head of Customer Success, CX, or Support |
Evaluate and Improve | Chief Operating Officer, Head of Ops/Data |
Ardoq's Modeling Approach
Modeling Value Streams
When modelling BVSs, always start with the value proposition. A value proposition is a promise that explains the specific benefit or outcome an organization intends to offer its customers or stakeholders. It describes why a certain product or service is worthwhile and how it meets a need or solves a problem. For example, “Provide fast, secure onboarding” or “Deliver exceptional claims experience”. Value propositions are also a useful way of distinguishing between whether the organisation is doing a new thing or doing an existing thing in a new way.
When this promise is connected to a business value stream, the series of steps needed to produce that outcome, the value proposition, becomes the guiding principle that shapes each stage of those activities. The full definition of the model is in the Business Value Stream Metamodel document.
By focusing on what the customer or stakeholder truly values, like agility, quality, affordability, or convenience, the value proposition ensures that all the resources, skills, and success measures in the value stream have the same goal. It also creates a clear benchmark to check whether the value stream is achieving its intended purpose and supporting the organization’s bigger objectives.
Each Value Stream Stage is delivered by Business Capabilities. It is therefore possible to identify the Business Capabilities that deliver the most value and prioritize those for optimization. This would be a good use of a Business Value Stream and also a good target for the Business Health Check solution.
What is a Value Proposition?
A Value Proposition is a clear statement that explains how a product, service, or organization delivers value to its customers or stakeholders. It defines:
Who the target audience is
What specific problem or need is being addressed
How the product/service solves the problem better than alternatives
The tangible benefits and unique advantages offered
Key Components of a Strong Value Proposition
Customer Need/Problem – What major challenge or pain point does the customer have?
Solution and Benefit – How does the offering solve the problem and improve the customer’s situation?
Differentiation – Why is this solution better than competitors or alternatives?
Outcome/Impact – What measurable value does the customer gain?
Value Stream Stages
Value Stream Stages are the steps that deliver the value. These are children of the Value Stream, and so each Value Stream Stage can only be referenced by one Value Stream. For example, a value stage called “Customer feedback and insights” can appear in multiple value streams across the organisation. In this case, we recommend you create a separate instance for each Value Stream Stage. This ensures any small differences are captured and that one model is not global.
Each value stream stage references any Business Capability that enables it with a reference type “Is Realized By” from the Value Stream stage. Multiple Business Capabilities can enable the same Value Stream Stage, and multiple Value Stream Stages can be enabled by the same Business Capability.
Business Processes that enable a Value Stream Stage can also be referenced from the Value Stream Stage with a reference type “Is Realized By”. Multiple Business Processes can enable the same Value Stream Stage, and multiple Value Stream Stages can be enabled by the same business process.
Relationship between Value Stream Stages and Business Capabilities / Business Processes
As each Value Stream Stage references all the business capabilities (or business processes) that contribute to the value (with a reference “is Realized By”), it demonstrates the capabilities that really deliver value. This can then be used to prioritise those Business Capabilities that require attention.
For example, if you have used the Maturity field on each of the Business Capabilities that enable the Value Stream, it is easy to create a heatmap showing where one or more of those capabilities lack maturity.
Single Value Stream vs Multiple Value Streams
The decision between modeling a single value stream versus several value streams depends on the complexity of your business, the clarity of ownership, and the level of granularity you need.
Single Value Stream: When It Works
Use when:
You have one clear product or service delivered end-to-end, or the flow of value is linear and cohesive. For example, you may have a single customer type or unified outcome, or you may be starting simple, e.g., early in a Value Stream initiative. This is why we suggest you start with a single high-level Value Stream across your organisation, before adapting to your organisation’s needs.
Pros:
Simpler to map and govern.
Easier stakeholder engagement.
Great for MVP value stream modeling.
Quick wins in understanding flow and blockers.
Watch out for:
Oversimplifying complex organizations with multiple capabilities or business lines.
Obscuring handoffs between functions or sub-processes.
Forcing unrelated activities into one flow leads to confusion.
Several Value Streams: When It’s Necessary
Use when:
Your organization delivers multiple distinct products/services. For example, different customer segments or outcome types exist. Perhaps your teams or business units operate semi-independently, in which case, you need to reflect portfolio-level agility or strategy alignment.
Pros:
More accurate reflection of business reality.
Enables localized optimization without breaking the big picture.
Easier to assign accountability and ownership.
Supports scaling (e.g., in SAFe, each Agile Release Train has its own value stream).
Watch out for:
Over-fragmentation by creating too many streams makes governance harder.
Misaligned metrics across streams.
Overlap between streams, e.g., shared capabilities or systems.
Where To Start
Start by identifying your company value proposition, and then create the Value Stream using the value proposition as a description. Your Value Stream Stages are next, and for each, you will have a few stakeholders and Business Capabilities or Business Processes that realize the value in those stages. If you need other Value streams, then add them as well.
Stakeholders
In the high-level flow of value, stakeholders are the people or groups that are either requesting, receiving, or enabling the delivery of value within an organization. They are essential to understanding why a value stream exists and what success looks like at each stage.
What We Mean by "Stakeholders" in the Flow of Value
In a Business Value Stream, stakeholders aren't just passive recipients, they play active roles in defining, triggering, and validating value delivery. They help anchor each stage of the value stream to real business outcomes.
Selecting the right stakeholders for your value stream is crucial to ensuring that you capture the actual flow of value across business, technology, and customer touchpoints.
Stakeholders for Value Streams and Stages
Stakeholders can be identified for both the entire Value Stream and for each of their Stages. Distinguishing which stakeholders are relevant for the complete value stream versus those for specific stages is key to understanding influence, alignment, and decision-making across the flow of value.
Stakeholder as a Role versus an Organization
Stakeholders can be a single role or an entire organization/team/department, depending on the culture of the company and its organization. However, there are ways to identify the level of stakeholder you need:
Check the decision-making authority. If one person makes or blocks decisions, name the individual. If decisions vary by situation, or you always have to talk to someone from a department, it's likely a team or organizational process.
Observe how they show up in conversations. Do people say, “We need approval from Legal”? If so, it's likely an organization or function-level stakeholder. If, on the other hand, they say “Talk to Sophie”? Then it's an individual stakeholder.
Look at the variation across stages. Sometimes, a whole organization (e.g., IT) only appears in one stage (e.g., implementation), then that organization is a stage-specific organization-level stakeholder. But if IT is involved in every stage (e.g., data, integration, infrastructure), it might be a value-stream-level organization stakeholder.
Consider accountability. If an entire organization is structurally accountable (e.g., Customer Success is responsible for NPS across the journey), then they are a stream-wide organization stakeholder. But if it’s just one manager representing the organization's interest in one place, you might list both the person and their department.
Map the Flow of Value
Sketch the high-level start-to-finish of the value stream (just the big chunks first, you can refine later) and identify:
Triggers - What initiates the value flow?
Steps - What major activities happen?
Value Proposition - What’s the outcome or product?
This helps spotlight key handovers and systems where stakeholders exist.
Stakeholders are the reason value streams exist. They define what value looks like, initiate the flow, and help evaluate whether the organization is truly delivering what matters most.
If you map a single high-level value stream for your organization, we advise you to allocate your stakeholders to the value stream stages. This will give you the definition you need to identify impacted stakeholders, etc. If you create more than one value stream, stakeholders can be allocated to the Value Stream. However, we still advise you to allocate stakeholders to the Value Stream Stages.
Key Elements and Evidence for our Approach
1. Stakeholder-Centric Value Delivery
Description: This approach focuses on delivering value that meets the needs and expectations of stakeholders. A business value stream is designed to visualize the entire journey of value creation, from initial trigger to final outcome, with a focus on what stakeholders (customers, employees, partners, or regulators) value most.
Supporting Reference: According to the BIZBOK® Guide, Chapter 3, "Value streams represent an end-to-end collection of activities that create results for stakeholders," and emphasize customer-centric alignment to improve both business outcomes and customer experience. We have a helpful article on stakeholder management, which outlines how it can be applied in Ardoq.
2. Capability-Driven Structure
Description: Value streams are linked to business capabilities, which define what the organization needs to execute at each stage of value delivery. This structure ensures that capabilities are strategically aligned with the organization’s goals, helping identify gaps and prioritize improvements that have a direct impact on value delivery.
Supporting Reference: The BIZBOK® Guide, Chapter 4, highlights that "Capabilities are essential enablers of value stream stages" and that mapping these capabilities helps organizations bridge the gap between strategy and execution.
3. Continuous Improvement Through Metrics and Transparency
Description: Organizations define performance metrics at each value stream stage to monitor progress, uncover inefficiencies, and identify opportunities for continuous improvement. Regular assessment of these metrics enables iterative refinements to both processes and capabilities.
Supporting Reference: The BIZBOK® Guide, Chapter 5, states that "Value streams provide a foundation for measuring performance, identifying pain points, and enabling continuous improvement" using clearly defined metrics.
Strengths of our Approach
Strategic Alignment between Goals and Execution
Strength: The value stream approach ties high-level business goals to operational activities, ensuring that resources and investments are directed toward delivering outcomes that support strategic objectives.
Supporting Reference: According to the BIZBOK® Guide, Chapter 3, "Value streams connect strategy and operations by creating a line of sight between business objectives and the activities required to achieve them."
2. Improved Customer Experience
Strength: By focusing on stakeholder outcomes, organizations can better understand customer needs and pain points. This leads to targeted improvements in products, services, and overall experience.
Supporting Reference: The BIZBOK® Guide, Chapter 3, highlights that "Value streams emphasize a customer-focused perspective, making improvements that directly enhance customer experience and satisfaction".
3. Capability-Based Planning and Optimization
Strength: The value stream approach identifies which business capabilities are critical to value delivery. This helps organizations prioritize capability enhancements, investments, and resource allocation to drive performance.
Supporting Reference: BIZBOK® Guide, Chapter 4, states "Business capabilities are the foundation for value streams, enabling organizations to identify gaps and improvement opportunities in value creation".
4. End-to-End Visibility and Collaboration
Strength: Mapping value streams provides a holistic view of how value flows across different teams, departments, and functions. This improves transparency, breaks down silos, and fosters cross-functional collaboration.
Supporting Reference: The BIZBOK® Guide, Chapter 5, notes that "Value streams span organizational boundaries, fostering collaboration by revealing dependencies and handoffs across the enterprise".
5. Continuous Improvement and Performance Measurement
Strength: Organizations can use performance metrics at each stage of the value stream to identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and areas for optimization. This supports a cycle of continuous improvement.
Supporting Reference: BIZBOK® Guide, Chapter 5 states, "Value streams provide a framework for continuous improvement by enabling organizations to measure, analyze, and refine their performance over time".
6. Resource Efficiency and Cost Reduction
Strength: By identifying and eliminating non-value-adding activities, organizations can streamline workflows, reduce costs, and improve time-to-market.
Supporting Reference: The BIZBOK® Guide, Chapter 3, states, "Eliminating waste and inefficiencies in value streams can drive down costs and increase the speed of value delivery".
Further Reading
Check out the following documents for more information about:
For further reading about Business Value Streams:
Business Architecture Guild – BIZBOK® Guide
The definitive guide for business architecture professionals, covering value streams, capabilities, and their integration within enterprise architecture.
Reference: BIZBOK® Guide (Business Architecture Guild)
Link: Business Architecture Guild
TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework)
Offers insights into how value streams fit into broader enterprise architecture frameworks. TOGAF emphasizes mapping value streams to capabilities, strategies, and business outcomes.
Reference: The Open Group Standard - TOGAF® Series Guide: Value Streams
Link: TOGAF Value Streams
Gartner on Business Architecture and Value Streams
Explains how value streams are used to drive digital transformation, improve strategy execution, and support capability-based planning.
Reference: Gartner IT Glossary on Value Streams
Link: Gartner - Value Streams
Ralph Whittle and Conrad Myrick – Enterprise Business Architecture
A book providing foundational knowledge on the relationship between strategy and results in business architecture, with a focus on value streams.
Reference: Ralph Whittle & Conrad Myrick, Enterprise Business Architecture: The Formal Link between Strategy and Results