Introducing the Janus Framework

2025 marks the 10th anniversary of BABOK? v3—a milestone that has prompted deep reflection on our progress and the challenges ahead. In my years leading the development of the BABOK?, I witnessed firsthand how our discipline evolved—from traditional waterfall projects to the rapid adoption of Agile—and how our methodologies struggled to keep pace with emerging needs. Today, with product-oriented thinking reshaping organizations, SaaS and commercial toolkits redefining solution assessment, and disruptive technologies like generative AI emerging, it’s clear that our existing standards are overdue for an update.

I published a call for IIBA to take on that task a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, IIBA will not and perhaps cannot do so. Rather than expend energy trying to change that, I decided to pursue a better option. This article is the first step in that direction. Rather than worrying about “backwards compatibility”, I can take what I learned about building bodies of knowledge from a decade in that space and add to it what I’ve learned as a practitioner working across business process management, product management, business architecture and higher education.

I’ve developed the basis of an ontology—a framework of interrelated topics—that captures the core capabilities required to design, implement, and sustain effective business systems—in the sense that the term is used in systems thinking. An enterprise, business unit, business capability, business process, or software product are all examples of systems. This new framework, which I call the Janus Framework, is intended to serve as a research-backed foundation for consistent terminology and practices, guiding business analysts, business architects, process analysts, and product managers into the future. Janus was the Roman god of beginnings, transitions, and endings, and so his name seems appropriate for this.

Janus Framework Overview

Rather than tasks or activities, the Janus Framework is built around outcomes that practitioners seek to accomplish. This is one of the key differences between it and existing bodies of knowledge. I chose an outcome-oriented framework because it lends itself well to course development and assessments and allows for more straightforward extension and modification by others.

Each knowledge area in the Framework organizes a set of outcomes into related topics, and ultimately each topic will include guidance on what someone needs to learn to accomplish the relevant outcomes, including skills, tools, and techniques. These will be examples in many cases, as practitioners in different disciplines will have unique approaches.

The Janus Framework is organized into two primary sections:

1. Core Topics – These cover the conception, design, development and implementation of changes to an organization’s products, processes, and capabilities. They scale to different time horizons, and the framework will specifically address Strategy, Design and Delivery, with examples of how each topic applies at each level.
2. Supporting Knowledge Areas – These topics address what practitioners need to do to ensure the changes we define succeed—that is, they meet the needs of stakeholders and are implemented in a way that delivers sustainable value.

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I. Core Topics

These topics drive the system’s design, ensuring that every initiative begins with a deep understanding of the challenge and evolves through systematic planning, execution, and adaptation. The core topics recur through different time horizons, from long-term strategy to delivery. I'd like a better name than "Core Topics", but it will do for now.

1. Define Challenge: Clearly describe the problem or opportunity, detailing the key issues, constraints, and desired outcome.
2. Survey the Context: Analyze internal and external risks, trends and opportunities to inform decision-making.
3. Assess Capabilities: Evaluate available resources, skills, and limitations to ensure that planned actions are achievable and justified.
4. Set Direction: Evaluate options for addressing the challenge, define guiding principles, and select the optimal approach.
5. Determine Changes: Identify and sequence the necessary changes to transition from the current state to the targeted outcome.
6. Align Changes: Integrate changes into a unified, coherent architecture so that each modification reinforces and strengthens the overall approach.
7. Monitor Progress: Monitor events and performance against defined criteria and determine the appropriate response to changing circumstances.
8. Uphold Ethics: Integrate ethical standards and professional integrity into decisions so that trust and accountability are inherent in design and execution.

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II. Supporting Knowledge Areas

A. Stakeholder Engagement

1. Analyze Stakeholders: Identify stakeholders and assess their relevant influence, interest and expertise to ensure their needs are addressed.
2. Engage Stakeholders: Collaborate with stakeholders to drive better decisions and outcomes.
3. Elicit Requirements: Create usable descriptions of stakeholder needs.
4. Conduct Research: Conduct research and experiements to ensure that decisions are based on evidence.

B. Change Management

1. Communicate Change: Clearly convey nature, benefits, and rationale of changes to all affected parties to ensure understanding and transparency.
2. Facilitate Adoption: Implement targeted measures to promote stakeholder acceptance and smooth transitions to the targeted future state.
3. Assess Impact: Evaluate the effects of change initiatives on processes and people to ensure the change remains relevant and desirable, and adjust approach as needed.
4. Assess Value: Evaluate tangible and intangible costs and benefits to ensure they generate the expected business value and the chosen approach remains consistent and coherent with overall objectives.

C. Process and Tools

1. Govern Changes and Process: Establish and enforce clear governance and decision-making structures, roles, and responsibilites to ensure consistent accountability.
2. Tailor Processes: Adapt and customize standard methodologies and workflows to fit the organization’s unique context.
3. Select Tools and Techniques: Identify, evaluate, and deploy appropriate tools and techniques that support design and decision-making.
4. Manage Risks: Identify, evaluate, and mitigate risks to reduce uncertainty and minimize potential negative impacts on design and execution.
5. Improve Performance: Coordinate cross?functional efforts and embed structured feedback loops to drive ongoing refinement, enhance performance, and ensure cohesive execution across the system.

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Next Steps

I plan to build the Janus Framework out over the coming months, and I will invite others to help with that effort and post drafts for public commentary. I will let you know when I’m ready for those next steps.

I expect that it will change as that process continues—I’ve thought a lot about these topics, but there will surely be perspectives and ideas I’ve missed, and if history is anything to go by, someone will point one out within the first five comments. My intention in the long term is to make it available to the public under terms that allow for its extension and modification, with published guidance on how best to do so. This will enable practitioners, educators, and professional bodies to adapt it to specific needs and situations.

But it's got to start somewhere.