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Capability Lifecycle

Why This Exists

This document defines the lifecycle of a Business Capability from discovery through retirement.

Capabilities are durable enterprise assets. They require governance because each capability may affect Practices, Digital Professionals, SOPs, Business Rules, APIs, Events, Data, UX, KPIs, and customer outcomes.

Owner

The owner is the Chief Product Officer and Enterprise Architect.

Lifecycle state ownership is held by the owning Practice for each capability.

Business Value

The lifecycle creates business value by ensuring capabilities are introduced intentionally, implemented responsibly, measured, improved, and retired without breaking the operating model.

Lifecycle States

State Meaning
Proposed The capability has been identified but not approved for design.
Defined The capability has an approved definition, owner, ID, and business outcome.
Designed Relationships to Practices, Digital Professionals, SOPs, data, UX, events, and APIs are documented.
Implemented One or more implementations support the capability.
Measured KPIs are captured and reviewed.
Optimized The capability is actively improved through learning and performance review.
Deprecated The capability is no longer preferred but remains visible.
Retired The capability is no longer active and is preserved only for history. 
stateDiagram-v2
    [*] --> Proposed
    Proposed --> Defined
    Defined --> Designed
    Designed --> Implemented
    Implemented --> Measured
    Measured --> Optimized
    Optimized --> Measured
    Measured --> Deprecated
    Deprecated --> Retired
    Retired --> [*]

Lifecycle Entry Criteria

Before a capability enters the catalogue, it must have:

  • A capability ID.
  • A capability name.
  • An owning Practice.
  • An accountable Digital Professional.
  • A business outcome.
  • A draft maturity assessment.
  • Known dependencies.

Lifecycle Review Questions

At each lifecycle review, ask:

  1. Does this capability still serve a customer business outcome?
  2. Is the owning Practice still correct?
  3. Is the accountable Digital Professional still correct?
  4. Are SOPs and Business Rules current?
  5. Are APIs, Events, Data, and UX aligned?
  6. Are KPIs being measured?
  7. Has Organizational Memory improved the capability?
  8. Should the maturity level change?

Lifecycle Governance

Capability lifecycle changes require review by the owning Practice and approval through the Blueprint governance path. Major lifecycle changes may require a decision record when they affect architecture or operating model.