Terminology Bridge

Business architects and data engineers often use different terms for related concepts. This page provides a comprehensive terminology bridge to facilitate communication and integration between Orthogramic business architecture and OpenMetadata data platforms.

Core Terminology Mapping

Business Architecture → Data Platform

Business Architecture Term	Data Platform Equivalent	Usage Context
Capability	Service /Function /Feature	What an organization can do
Value Stream	Data Pipeline /Workflow /DAG	How value flows through processes
Stakeholder	Data Owner /Steward /Consumer	Who is accountable or interested
Information	Data Asset /Entity /Table	What data represents
Performance Indicator	Metric /Data Quality Score /KPI	How success is measured
Initiative	Project /Sprint /Epic	How change is delivered
Organization Unit	Data Domain /Team	Where responsibility lies
Policy	Data Governance Rule /Tag Policy	What constraints apply
Service	API /Microservice /Endpoint	How capabilities are exposed
Trigger	Event /Alert /Notification	What initiates action
Rationale	Impact Assessment /Business Case	Why action is taken
Strategy	North Star Metric /OKR	What we're trying to achieve

Data Platform → Business Architecture

Data Platform Term	Business Architecture Equivalent	Notes
Table	Information Component	Core data asset
Pipeline	Value Stream (data aspect)	Data flow automation
Dashboard	Performance Visualization	KPI presentation
Lineage	Dependency /Impact Chain	Data flow tracing
Schema	Information Structure	Data definition
Glossary Term	Domain Entity Definition	Business definition
Tag	Classification /Attribute	Metadata labeling
Test Suite	Quality Criteria	Validation rules
Data Product	Product (data-centric)	Packaged data offering
Domain (OM)	Organization Unit	Ownership boundary

Detailed Term Definitions

Capability vs. Service/Function

Aspect	Capability (BA)	Service/Function (DP)
Definition	What an organization can do, independent of how	Technical component that provides functionality
Scope	Business-level abstraction	Technical implementation
Ownership	Business unit	Technical team
Measurement	Business outcomes	Technical metrics (uptime, latency)
Example	"Customer Onboarding"	"customer-onboarding-api"

Integration Tip: Link technical services to the business capabilities they enable using custom properties.

Value Stream vs. Pipeline

Aspect	Value Stream (BA)	Pipeline (DP)
Definition	End-to-end flow of value creation	Automated data transformation workflow
Scope	Business process	Technical process
Stages	Business activities	Tasks/jobs
Output	Business value	Transformed data
Example	"Order to Cash"	"order-to-cash-etl"

Integration Tip: Map value stream stages to corresponding pipeline tasks for business-technical traceability.

Stakeholder vs. Owner/Steward

Aspect	Stakeholder (BA)	Owner/Steward (DP)
Definition	Anyone with interest in business outcomes	Person accountable for data asset
Types	Internal, external, individuals, groups	Owner, steward, consumer
Scope	Broad organizational	Specific to data assets
Accountability	Business outcomes	Data quality and availability
Example	"CFO" (multiple accountabilities)	"Finance Data Owner" (specific assets)

Integration Tip: Connect business stakeholders to their data stewardship roles for complete accountability chains.

Information vs. Data Asset

Aspect	Information (BA)	Data Asset (DP)
Definition	Business information entity	Technical data container
Abstraction	Logical business concept	Physical implementation
Attributes	Business meaning, classification	Schema, statistics, quality
Relationships	Business dependencies	Technical lineage
Example	"Customer Information"	"warehouse.crm.customers"

Integration Tip: The Information domain provides business context that enriches technical data assets.

Policy vs. Governance Rule

Aspect	Policy (BA)	Governance Rule (DP)
Definition	Business rule or constraint	Automated enforcement rule
Format	Natural language	Code/configuration
Enforcement	Manual or automated	Automated
Scope	Organization-wide	Platform-specific
Example	"Delete PII after 2 years"	retentionDays <= 730

Integration Tip: Translate business policies into enforceable governance rules for automated compliance.

Domain-Specific Terminology

Finance Domain

BA Term	Data Platform Term	Context
Revenue Stream	Revenue Data Pipeline	Financial flow
Cost Center	Cost Allocation Tags	Budget attribution
Budget	Financial Data Quality Rules	Validation
Financial Reporting	Finance Dashboard	Visualization

Risk Management Domain

BA Term	Data Platform Term	Context
Risk	Data Quality Issue /Alert	Negative event
Control	Data Quality Test	Mitigation
Risk Appetite	Quality Threshold	Tolerance level
Risk Owner	Issue Owner	Accountability

Customer Domain

BA Term	Data Platform Term	Context
Customer Segment	Customer Cohort Table	Grouping
Customer Journey	User Event Pipeline	Tracking
Customer Experience	User Analytics Dashboard	Measurement
Customer Data	PII-tagged Tables	Classification

OpenMetadata-Specific Terminology

Entity Types

OM Entity	Orthogramic Mapping	Usage
Table	Information Component	Primary data asset
Topic	Information (event/message)	Streaming data
Dashboard	Performance Visualization	Metrics display
Pipeline	Value Stream (data)	Data workflow
MlModel	Technology Component	AI/ML asset
Container	Information Container	File storage
Query	Information Query	Saved analysis
StoredProcedure	Process Component	Business logic
DataProduct	Product (data)	Packaged offering
SearchIndex	Information Index	Search capability

Governance Constructs

OM Construct	Orthogramic Mapping	Purpose
Glossary	Domain Definitions	Terminology
GlossaryTerm	Domain Entity	Single definition
Tag	Attribute /Classification	Labeling
Policy	Policy Domain	Governance
Role	Stakeholder Role	Permissions
Team	Organization Unit	Grouping
Domain	Organization Unit	Ownership boundary

Quality Constructs

OM Construct	Orthogramic Mapping	Purpose
TestSuite	Quality Criteria	Test grouping
TestCase	Quality Measure	Individual test
TestDefinition	Quality Rule	Test type
Incident	Trigger (performance)	Issue tracking

Communication Guidelines

When Speaking to Data Engineers

Use data platform terminology:

Instead of...	Say...
"This capability needs data support"	"We need data assets that enable this function"
"The value stream is broken"	"The data pipeline supporting this workflow has issues"
"Stakeholder requirements"	"Data consumer requirements"
"Policy compliance"	"Governance rule validation"

When Speaking to Business Stakeholders

Use business architecture terminology:

Instead of...	Say...
"The table has quality issues"	"Customer information has quality concerns"
"Pipeline failed"	"The value delivery process was interrupted"
"Data lineage shows..."	"The dependency chain shows..."
"We need to tag assets"	"We need to classify information"

In Documentation

Use both terms with clear mapping:

"The Customer Onboarding capability (implemented by the customer-onboarding-api service) depends on Customer Information (stored in warehouse.crm.customers) to deliver its value."

Glossary Export Template

Use this template to export Orthogramic terminology to OpenMetadata glossary:

{
  "glossary": {
    "name": "orthogramic-business-terms",
    "displayName": "Orthogramic Business Architecture Terms",
    "description": "Business architecture terminology from the Orthogramic Metamodel",
    "terms": [
      {
        "name": "capability",
        "displayName": "Capability",
        "description": "What an organization can do, independent of how it is done",
        "synonyms": ["business capability", "organizational capability"],
        "relatedTerms": ["service", "function"],
        "tags": ["business-architecture", "core-concept"]
      },
      {
        "name": "value-stream",
        "displayName": "Value Stream",
        "description": "End-to-end flow of activities that deliver value to stakeholders",
        "synonyms": ["value chain", "business process"],
        "relatedTerms": ["pipeline", "workflow"],
        "tags": ["business-architecture", "core-concept"]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Summary Reference Card

Category	BA Terms	DP Terms
What we do	Capability	Service, Function
How value flows	Value Stream	Pipeline, Workflow
Who's responsible	Stakeholder	Owner, Steward
What we know	Information	Data Asset, Table
How we measure	Performance Indicator	Metric, KPI
What rules apply	Policy	Governance Rule
Where ownership lies	Organization Unit	Domain, Team
What we deliver	Product, Service	Data Product, API

Related Documentation

• Entity Mapping — Detailed entity mappings
• Use Cases — Practical integration scenarios
• API Patterns — Implementation code