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Focus on relationships that are active or strategically important.
Review regularly to ensure accuracy and relevance.
Use clear relationship types to convey the nature of interdependence.
Use dashboards and filters to monitor the impact of shared responsibilities.
Examples
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A digital service delivered by the IT unit but requiring operational input from customer service.
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A sustainability initiative coordinated by strategy but implemented by property, fleet, and procurement teams.
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A compliance KPI tracked by risk and finance teams jointly.
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Example
Here is an that illustrating inter-unit domain relationships, showing how elements from different business architecture domains (e.g. Capability, Service, Initiative) span organisational units:
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Description
Business Unit A owns a Capability (
Customer Analytics)Business Unit B provides a Service (
CRM Platform) and delivers an Initiative (CRM Upgrade)Business Unit C governs with a Policy (
Data Governance)The arrows show inter-unit domain relationships, crossing boundaries between organisational units and domains:
utilizing(Capability → Service)supporting(Capability → Initiative)governing(Policy -> Capability)
Viewing Inter-unit domain relationships
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Select > Inter-unit domain relationships
The Inter-unit domain relationships will be displayed as shown below. In this example, a capability in one organization unit has a variety of relationships with domain entities in other organization units.
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Replace this image |
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Relationship details
When the inter-unit relationships are displayed:
Click a relationship
Click the other entity you are in interested in
The info panel will open and display a card with the relationship information
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Relationship Types
Node | Role type | Definition |
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.png?version=1&modificationDate=1746776916673&cacheVersion=1&api=v2&width=113) |
| The unit accountable for the governance, lifecycle, and quality of the domain entity (e.g. capability, information asset, or policy). |
.png?version=1&modificationDate=1746776916629&cacheVersion=1&api=v2&width=123) |
| The unit that delivers the core functionality, service, or resource associated with the domain entity. |
.png?version=1&modificationDate=1746776916593&cacheVersion=1&api=v2&width=133) |
| The unit that actively uses the outputs or results of the domain entity to perform its own operations. |
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| A broader term than consuming, denoting any unit that benefits from the domain entity, even if indirectly (e.g. benefits from insight, capability). |
.png?version=1&modificationDate=1746776916664&cacheVersion=1&api=v2&width=127) |
| The unit responsible for maintaining integrity, accuracy, and compliance of an information or data entity. |
.png?version=1&modificationDate=1746776916630&cacheVersion=1&api=v2&width=133) |
| The unit whose ability to achieve its objectives relies on the effective functioning of another unit’s domain entity. |
.png?version=1&modificationDate=1746776916649&cacheVersion=1&api=v2&width=133) |
| The unit that gains operational advantage or risk reduction as a result of another unit’s domain activity, but is not actively consuming it. |
.png?version=1&modificationDate=1746776916607&cacheVersion=1&api=v2&width=120) .png?version=1&modificationDate=1748136025341&cacheVersion=1&api=v2&width=134) |
| The unit responsible for setting rules, standards, or oversight mechanisms for the domain entity and ensuring compliance across all related units. |
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In the image above, the first relationship has a strength of 5 and the second a strength of 1.
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Difference from cross domain relationshipsInter-unit domain relationships focus on how business architecture elements interact across organisational boundaries—for example, when a Capability owned by one business unit relies on a Service or Initiative delivered by another. These relationships expose cross-unit dependencies, collaboration points, and potential silos within the organisation. In contrast, cross domain relationships describe the conceptual structure of the business architecture—how elements such as Strategies, Capabilities, Value Streams, and Policies relate regardless of organisational ownership. They are foundational to the Orthogramic Metamodel and define the logical flow and influence between domains. While cross domain relationships define what should be connected, inter-unit relationships reveal where those connections span business units—and whether they are aligned in practice. |