What Orthogramic Adds

The Orthogramic Metamodel builds on business architecture foundations with additional capabilities designed for modern enterprise needs. This page describes what Orthogramic adds beyond traditional business architecture frameworks.

Design Principles

Orthogramic was designed with specific principles that shape its additions:

Principle	Description	Resulting Capability
Schema-first	All concepts defined in formal JSON Schema	Machine-readable, validatable definitions
Integration-ready	API-first design for enterprise tools	Data catalog and platform integration
Comprehensive	Cover modern enterprise complexity	24 domains vs. traditional 4
Traceable	End-to-end relationship modeling	Cross-domain lineage and impact analysis
Open	Community contribution model	Continuous evolution and extension

Extended Domain Coverage

Beyond Core Domains

Traditional business architecture focuses on four core domains. Orthogramic extends this to 24 domains organized into layers:

Why More Domains?

Traditional Approach	Orthogramic Approach	Benefit
Finance embedded in other domains	Dedicated Finance domain	Explicit cost/revenue modeling
Technology as context	Technology domain	Direct capability-technology linkage
Risk as assessment	Risk Management domain	Formal risk taxonomy and controls
People through organization	People domain	Workforce planning and skills
Sustainability as consideration	Sustainability domain	ESG and environmental objectives

Strategic Response Model

One of Orthogramic's most significant additions is the Strategic Response Model (SRM), which provides structured tracing from events to outcomes.

SRM Components

Component	Purpose	Traditional Approach
Trigger	Capture events prompting response	Scenario planning narratives
Rationale	Document reasoning for decisions	Meeting minutes, implicit knowledge
Response	Define actions across domains	Initiative tracking
Performance Indicators	Measure outcomes	KPI spreadsheets
Monitoring	Track and adjust	Periodic reviews

Traceability Chain

This formalized structure enables:

• Audit trails — Full documentation of why changes were made
• Impact analysis — Understand downstream effects of triggers
• Pattern recognition — Identify similar triggers and responses
• Automation — Trigger-based workflow initiation

Cross-Domain Relationships

Orthogramic adds formal relationship modeling with defined semantics:

Relationship Types

Category	Relationship Verbs	Example
Financial	funds, measures, reports, forecasts	Budget funds Initiative
Operational	depends, constrains, enables, mitigates	Capability enables Value Stream Stage
Governance	monitors, governs, audits, certifies	Policy governs Capability
Information	informs, validates, enriches	KPI measures Performance
Innovation	innovates, evolves, transforms	Initiative transforms Capability

Directionality

All relationships have defined direction (source → target) using active voice verbs:

• ✓ Capability enables Value Stream Stage
• ✗ Value Stream Stage enabled by Capability

This consistency enables:

• Upstream/downstream impact analysis
• Consistent visualization
• Query pattern standardization

Inter-Unit Relationships

Orthogramic adds explicit modeling of how organizational units relate to shared assets:

Relationship	Description
owning	Has governance responsibility
providing	Delivers the asset or service
consuming	Uses the asset or service
benefiting	Receives value from the asset
custodian	Maintains day-to-day operation
supporting	Provides supporting function
governing	Sets policies and standards

This enables answering questions like:

• "Which units depend on this capability?"
• "Who needs to be consulted for this change?"
• "What's the full impact of decommissioning this service?"

Interoperability Mappings

Orthogramic includes pre-built mappings to industry standards:

Financial Services

Standard	Mapping Coverage
BIAN	Service domain alignment for banking
FIBO	Financial ontology property mappings

Enterprise Architecture

Standard	Mapping Coverage
SAP EAF	Module and process alignment
Well-Architected	AWS/Azure/GCP pillar mappings

Data Platforms

Platform	Integration Pattern
OpenMetadata	Entity mapping, glossary terms
Data Catalogs	Business context enrichment

Coverage Extensions

Orthogramic adds a maturity tracking system:

Component	Purpose
Coverage Template	Define which domains matter for context
Organization Goal	Set coverage targets by unit
Coverage Status	Track current state
Coverage Expectation	Define time-bound milestones

This enables:

• Metamodel adoption tracking
• Gap analysis and prioritization
• Maturity roadmap planning

Business Analysis Extension

Orthogramic adds formal support for business analysis:

Component	Capability
Requirements	Formal requirement schema with acceptance criteria
Artifacts	Document and model tracking
Elicitation Activities	Capture how requirements were gathered
Analysis & Design	Solution option evaluation
Solution Evaluation	Post-implementation assessment

Framework Translation

Built-in mappings to BA frameworks:

Framework	Supported Mappings
BABOK	Requirements, techniques, deliverables
Volere	Requirement types, templates
IREB	Requirement engineering concepts
Agile	User stories, acceptance criteria

Schema Rigor

All additions include formal JSON Schema definitions:

{
  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
  "title": "Trigger",
  "type": "object",
  "required": ["triggerID", "label", "category"],
  "properties": {
    "triggerID": {
      "type": "string",
      "format": "uuid"
    },
    "label": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "category": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "Regulatory or compliance",
        "Technological change",
        "Environmental & safety",
        "Operational transformation",
        "Strategic re-alignment",
        "Customer & stakeholder",
        "Workforce & skills",
        "Performance response",
        "Political or social",
        "Innovation-led opportunity"
      ]
    }
  }
}

This enables:

• Validation — Automated schema compliance checking
• Code generation — Generate types for any programming language
• Documentation — Schema serves as specification
• API contracts — OpenAPI integration

Summary

Addition Category	Key Capabilities
Extended Domains	24 domains covering modern enterprise complexity
Strategic Response Model	Trigger → Rationale → Response → Performance chain
Relationship Modeling	Typed, directional cross-domain relationships
Inter-Unit Relationships	Formal ownership, consumption, governance modeling
Interoperability	BIAN, FIBO, SAP EAF, Well-Architected mappings
Coverage Extensions	Maturity tracking and adoption measurement
Business Analysis	Requirements, artifacts, elicitation, evaluation
Schema Rigor	JSON Schema definitions for all concepts

These additions make Orthogramic suitable for:

• Enterprise tool development
• Data platform integration
• Automated governance
• Complex multi-enterprise modeling
• Regulatory traceability requirements

Related Documentation

• Summary Comparison — High-level framework comparison
• Detailed Comparison — Technical comparison
• Domain Coverage Explained — Why 24 domains