Free starter resource
Business capability map templates by sector
Starter Level-1 business-capability maps for four common contexts — banking, insurance, public sector, and a generic enterprise baseline. Each is a paraphrased, industry-standard set you can lift as a starting point and then refine inside Archilu against your own organisation. These are deliberately neutral starting points, not a finished model and not a reproduction of any framework's copyrighted material.
What is a business capability map?
A business capability map is a stable, technology-neutral view of WHAT an organisation does — its capabilities — independent of HOW it is currently organised or which applications support it. Level 1 (L1) gives the big, durable building blocks; Level 2 (L2) decomposes each into more specific capabilities. Because capabilities change far more slowly than org charts or systems, the map becomes a steady backbone for application rationalisation, investment decisions and target-state planning.
Banking
A retail/commercial banking baseline. The capability names lean on BIAN-style business domains, paraphrased — covering the customer, products, payments, lending, risk and the supporting back office.
Customer Management
Level 2 examples
Onboarding & KYC · Relationship management · Servicing & support
Product Management
Level 2 examples
Product design · Pricing & fees · Product lifecycle
Accounts & Deposits
Level 2 examples
Current accounts · Savings & term deposits · Account servicing
Payments & Transfers
Level 2 examples
Domestic & instant payments · Cross-border payments · Cards & settlement
Lending & Credit
Level 2 examples
Origination · Underwriting & decisioning · Servicing & collections
Treasury & Markets
Level 2 examples
Liquidity management · Trading · Position & limits
Risk Management
Level 2 examples
Credit risk · Market & liquidity risk · Operational risk
Compliance & Financial Crime
Level 2 examples
AML / sanctions screening · Fraud management · Regulatory reporting
Finance & Accounting
Level 2 examples
General ledger · Regulatory & financial reporting · Cost & profitability
Channels & Distribution
Level 2 examples
Digital & mobile · Branch & contact centre · Partner / open banking
Enterprise Services
Level 2 examples
HR · Procurement & vendor management · IT & data management
Reference: Paraphrased from BIAN-style service domains and common retail-banking models.
Insurance
A general insurance baseline along the classic insurance value chain — from product and underwriting through policy administration, claims and the actuarial and reinsurance functions.
Product & Proposition
Level 2 examples
Product design · Rating & pricing · Product lifecycle
Distribution & Sales
Level 2 examples
Broker & agent management · Quote & bind · Direct & digital channels
Underwriting
Level 2 examples
Risk assessment · Pricing & terms · Referral & authority
Policy Administration
Level 2 examples
Issuance · Endorsements & renewals · Billing & collections
Claims Management
Level 2 examples
First notice of loss · Assessment & adjudication · Settlement & recovery
Actuarial
Level 2 examples
Reserving · Pricing models · Capital & solvency modelling
Reinsurance
Level 2 examples
Treaty & facultative · Cession management · Recoveries
Customer Management
Level 2 examples
Onboarding · Servicing · Retention
Risk & Compliance
Level 2 examples
Regulatory reporting · Fraud management · Operational risk
Finance & Investments
Level 2 examples
General ledger · Asset & investment management · Financial reporting
Enterprise Services
Level 2 examples
HR · Procurement · IT & data management
Reference: Paraphrased from common insurance value-chain and reference models.
Public sector
A government / public-administration baseline focused on serving citizens and businesses — service delivery, case and regulatory work, and the corporate functions that support them.
Citizen & Business Services
Level 2 examples
Service request & intake · Eligibility & entitlement · Self-service & digital identity
Case Management
Level 2 examples
Case creation & triage · Casework & decisions · Appeals & review
Regulation & Compliance
Level 2 examples
Licensing & permits · Inspection & enforcement · Standards & policy
Benefits & Payments
Level 2 examples
Assessment · Disbursement · Overpayment & recovery
Revenue & Taxation
Level 2 examples
Registration · Assessment & collection · Compliance & audit
Policy & Planning
Level 2 examples
Policy development · Programme planning · Performance & evaluation
Records & Information
Level 2 examples
Records management · Open data & transparency · Data protection
Finance & Procurement
Level 2 examples
Budgeting · Public procurement · Financial reporting
Workforce & HR
Level 2 examples
Recruitment · Workforce management · Learning & development
Stakeholder & Communications
Level 2 examples
Engagement · Communications · Freedom-of-information handling
Technology & Security
Level 2 examples
IT operations · Cyber security · Data & analytics
Reference: Paraphrased from public-sector reference models used by various governments.
Generic enterprise
A sector-neutral baseline that works for most organisations. It splits the classic strategy / core (operate) / supporting (manage) view into durable L1 capabilities you can specialise per industry.
Strategy & Governance
Level 2 examples
Strategic planning · Portfolio management · Risk & compliance
Product & Service Management
Level 2 examples
Offering design · Lifecycle management · Pricing
Marketing
Level 2 examples
Brand & demand generation · Campaign management · Market intelligence
Sales
Level 2 examples
Lead & opportunity management · Quoting & contracting · Account management
Customer Management
Level 2 examples
Onboarding · Service & support · Loyalty & retention
Operations & Delivery
Level 2 examples
Order management · Service / production delivery · Quality management
Supply Chain & Procurement
Level 2 examples
Sourcing · Vendor management · Logistics
Finance
Level 2 examples
Accounting · Treasury · Financial planning & analysis
Human Resources
Level 2 examples
Recruitment · Workforce management · Learning & development
Information Technology
Level 2 examples
IT operations · Application & data management · Cyber security
Legal & Risk
Level 2 examples
Legal services · Enterprise risk · Compliance
Reference: A neutral, sector-agnostic baseline drawn from common enterprise capability models.
How to use these templates
- 1Pick the closest sector baseline below and treat it as a draft, not a verdict.
- 2Add, merge or rename capabilities until the map reflects what YOUR organisation actually does — the wording should make sense to business leaders, not just architects.
- 3Aim for roughly 8–15 L1 capabilities; if you have far more, you are probably describing processes or org units, not capabilities.
- 4Decompose only where it pays off (the areas you want to assess or invest in) — you rarely need every branch fully expanded.
- 5Recreate the map in Archilu and link applications, costs and risks to each capability to drive rationalisation and target-state work.
Sources & attribution
These starter sets paraphrase widely used, industry-standard reference taxonomies — including BIAN (Banking Industry Architecture Network) service domains for banking, common insurance value-chain models for insurance, and public-sector reference models used by various governments. They are summarised in our own words as neutral starting points and do not reproduce any framework's copyrighted text. Framework names belong to their respective owners; consult the original frameworks for authoritative definitions.
Turn a starter map into a working capability model
Archilu lets you build your capability map, then link applications, cost and risk to each capability — so the map drives real rationalisation and investment decisions. The EA Maturity Assessment is a fast way to see where to start.