An enterprise architect presents a capability map to the board.
What does a business capability map show?
A business capability map answers "what can we do?" — not "how do we do it?" or "who does it?" Capabilities are defined at the business level (e.g., "Customer Onboarding," "Risk Assessment," "Claims Processing") independently of the current operating model. This makes the map durable through organisational change and technology evolution. It is the foundation for investment prioritisation, heat mapping, and gap analysis.
2 / 5
During a capability assessment, a team uses a heat map overlay on the capability model.
What does this communicate?
A capability heat map applies a colour coding (typically red/amber/green or a similar scale) to a capability map to communicate a specific dimension — common examples: performance gaps (red = underperforming), investment levels (high/medium/low), strategic priority (core/differentiating/commodity). Heat maps make complex assessments immediately visual for executive stakeholders, enabling fast decisions about where to invest, improve, or divest.
3 / 5
Complete the gap analysis statement from a capability review:
"Our current capability for real-time fraud detection is at Level 2 (Managed). The target state is Level 4 (Optimised). We need to close this _____ gap by investing in ML-based scoring and automated case management."
Capability gap is the standard term for the distance between the current capability maturity and the target level. Gap analysis is a core output of capability modelling: it identifies where investment is needed to reach the target state. The language "current capability... target state... close this gap" is the standard narrative structure for presenting capability investment cases to leadership.
4 / 5
A capability maturity assessment rates the "Order Management" capability as Level 1 — Initial.
What does this mean?
In capability maturity models (derived from CMMI and similar frameworks), Level 1 — Initial describes processes that are chaotic, ad hoc, and undocumented. Success depends on heroic individual effort rather than repeatable process. The typical maturity scale is: 1 (Initial) → 2 (Managed) → 3 (Defined) → 4 (Quantitatively Managed) → 5 (Optimising). Capability maturity ratings help organisations prioritise where process and technology investment will have the most impact.
5 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses capability modelling vocabulary in an executive briefing?
Option B correctly combines capability modelling concepts: heat map (visual assessment tool), strategic differentiator (a capability that provides competitive advantage), Level 2 maturity (specific rating), and capability gap (the investment case). This is the language of an architecture briefing to a board or executive committee. Option A describes a technical inventory (microservices ≠ capabilities). Option C describes process modelling (BPMN), not capability modelling.