The implementation of a new business model is closely related to the business process landscape and the architecture of an enterprise. Using the example of implementing a new business model in a fictious insurance company, this article illustrates a best practice approach to bring a business model into life. This approach takes into account the most relevant aspects of an enterprise architecture to be considered when implementing the new business model.

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The article is divided in multiple parts. Lets start with part 1

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Part1: Business model implementation & enterprise architecture

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Finding a sustainable business model is a very challenging task. It's not just the smart idea of bringing something into market which nobody has done before, but it is also answering the question whether or not the idea will return enough money to call it a real business model.

With a start­up company you typically begin with investments and make the new business run. To find

the money is the main problem ­ to structure the new enterprise and build up an enterprise architecture which fits your business needs, is of secondary importance.

When you're not a start­up but a settled company in your market and you try to establish a new distribution channel or even a complete new business model, things are completely different. To find the money is not the decisive point (at least when you have a substantiated business plan). But to make your new idea run and return all the investments you made is not as easy as you might think.

The reason for that is, that a new business model demands a change in your business processes. And a change in business processes demands a change in your organisation, i.e. in your collaboration model, in your enterprise structure in your information technology and even in your external representation. That means you have to redesign your enterprise architecture.

A new business model will not emerge by itself but has to be implemented in an already structured company. To do this, we suggest an approach described in the following parts. As an example, we take a fictious insurance company which wants to introduce a new kind of contracts for a car insurance. This new contract type shall be more flexible and is based on a monthly (or even weekly) recorded and analysed driving performance, not on basis of an annual average any more.

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