1. SN BA Project - Business Activity Model
Common organizing view of an NSI
Members of SNBA Project:
Rob McLellan (Canada)
Nadia Mignolli (Italy)
Jenny Linnerud (Norway)
Rosemary McGrath (New Zealand)
Eden Brinkley, Sebastian Dubrovsky (Australia)

2. Project origins
In late 2012, the SN Steering Committee (SC) endorsed a project titled 'Towards a Common Business Architecture for the Statistical Network‘, and established a project team to advance the work
The aim of the SN BA project was to scope, define and seek consensus on a common BA for the SN, including what it should look like, and how it could be leveraged and used collectively and individually
One of the key deliverables from the project was a holistic ‘activity’ model that provides a 'common organizing view of an NSI'
To this end, the ‘SN Business Activity Model (SN BAM) (V0.9)’was developed and circulated initially to the SN SC in May 2014
The goal now is to finalize and release the model as V1.0 by the end of July this year

3. SNBA – Business Activity Model (v1.0)
Strategy
Position
Govern
Influence and collaborate
• Understand national & international directions & factors • Determine organizational vision & values • Determine organizational value proposition • Determine organizational goals • Communicate values & expectations
• Develop strategies for achieving organizational goals • Prioritize statistical portfolio • Prioritize capability portfolio • Allocate portfolio & programme budgets • Build & maintain internal statistical & professional excellence
• Build & maintain strategic relations, nationally & internationally • Build & maintain external statistical excellence • Advance inter-agency & international collaborations • Secure support for statistical & capability portfolio
Capability
Corporate support
Plan capability improvements
Develop capability improvements
Manage capabilities
Support capability implementation
Manage business and performance
Manage finances
Manage human resources
Manage IT
Manage information and knowledge
Manage consumers and suppliers
• Identify 'disruptive' & other capability improvements • Propose capability improvement projects, including shared infrastructure • Manage capability improvement programmes
• Undertake background research • Develop detailed capability requirements • Design capability solution • Build & release capability solution, including shared infrastructure • Manage capability development project
• Maintain capabilities, including shared infrastructure • Promote capabilities • Evaluate capabilities
• Support design • Support operations • Support use externally
• Manage business performance • Manage change • Manage legislation & compliance • Manage physical assets, including building facilities
• Accounting (including assets & liabilities) • Procurement & contracts
• Manage employee performance • Manage & develop skills • Manage talent • Manage recruitment • Succession planning
• Manage IT services • Manage IT & information security
• Manage document & records • Manage knowledge • Manage information standards & rights
• Public affairs • Media relations • Stakeholder consultation • Manage user support
Production
Develop
Implement
Specify needs
Design
Build
Collect
Process
Analyze
Disseminate
• Identify needs • Consult & confirm needs • Establish output objectives • Identify concepts • Check data availability • Prepare business case
• Design outputs • Design variable descriptions • Design collection • Design frame & sample • Design processing & analysis • Design production system & workflows
• Assemble & configure system components • Configure workflows • Test production system • Test statistical business process • Finalize production system
• Create frame & select sample • Set up collection • Run collection • Finalize collection
• Integrate data • Classify & code • Review & validate • Edit & impute • Derive new variables & units • Calculate weights • Calculate aggregates • Finalize data files
• Prepare draft outputs • Validate outputs • Interpret & explain outputs • Apply disclosure control • Finalize outputs
• Update output systems • Produce dissemination products • Manage release of dissemination products • Promote dissemination products
Manage
Plan
Monitor
Adjust
• Secure project approval & funding • Plan project tasks, timetable, budget & resources • Plan quality & performance metrics & targets
• Monitor project quality & performance • Monitor project budgets & timetables • Identify emerging risks & issues • Report on project progress
• Develop corrective actions & strategies • Revise project plan • Communicate corrective actions & revised expectations

4. Influence and collaborate
Strategy
This business line comprises the high-level strategic activities that enable NSIs to deliver the products and services needed by governments and communities nationally and internationally
The activities influence, shape and drive future NSI directions and investments through the development and consideration of high-level strategies to advance statistical capabilities and the statistical portfolio
Position and Influence and collaborate are the two key areas requiring increased or explicit attention
Strategy
Position
Govern
Influence and collaborate
• Understand national & international directions & factors • Determine organizational vision & values • Determine organizational value proposition • Determine organizational goals • Communicate values & expectations
• Develop strategies for achieving organizational goals • Prioritize statistical portfolio • Prioritize capability portfolio • Allocate portfolio & programme budgets • Build & maintain internal statistical & professional excellence
• Build & maintain strategic relations, nationally & internationally • Build & maintain external statistical excellence • Advance inter-agency & international collaborations • Secure support for statistical & capability portfolio

5. Capability Capability
This business line supports the successful development and management of the capabilities (covering methods, processes, standards and frameworks, IT systems and people skills) that underpin an organization's ability to conduct its business
It strongly promotes the re-use and sharing of infrastructure (statistical and technical), facilitating harmonization and coherence of statistical outputs
Previously under acknowledged, under described, and under governed
Capability
Plan capability improvements
Develop capability improvements
Manage capabilities
Support capability implementation
• Identify 'disruptive' & other capability improvements • Propose capability improvement projects, including shared infrastructure • Manage capability improvement programmes
• Undertake background research • Develop detailed capability requirements • Design capability solution • Build & release capability solution, including shared infrastructure • Manage capability development project
• Maintain capabilities, including shared infrastructure • Promote capabilities • Evaluate capabilities
• Support design • Support operations • Support use externally

6. Corporate Support Corporate support
This business line covers the cross-cutting, non-statistical functions required by the organization to deliver its work programme efficiently and effectively
Built on recognized international frameworks
Corporate support
Manage business and performance
Manage finances
Manage human resources
Manage IT
Manage information and knowledge
Manage consumers and suppliers
• Manage business performance • Manage change • Manage legislation & compliance • Manage physical assets, including building facilities
• Accounting (including assets & liabilities) • Procurement & contracts
• Manage employee performance • Manage & develop skills • Manage talent • Manage recruitment • Succession planning
• Manage IT services • Manage IT & information security
• Manage document & records • Manage knowledge • Manage information standards & rights
• Public affairs • Media relations • Stakeholder consultation • Manage user support

7. Production Production
This business line covers all steps necessary to manage, design and implement statistical production cycles or projects, including surveys, collections based on data from administrative or other sources, account compilations and data modelling
It delivers the outputs approved under Strategy, utilizing the capabilities and resources built and managed under Capability and Corporate Support
Strong alignment with GSBPM, but with increased focus on management activities
Production
Develop
Implement
Specify needs
Design
Build
Collect
Process
Analyze
Disseminate
• Identify needs • Consult & confirm needs • Establish output objectives • Identify concepts • Check data availability • Prepare business case
• Design outputs • Design variable descriptions • Design collection • Design frame & sample • Design processing & analysis • Design production system & workflows
• Assemble & configure system components • Configure workflows • Test production system • Test statistical business process • Finalize production system
• Create frame & select sample • Set up collection • Run collection • Finalize collection
• Integrate data • Classify & code • Review & validate • Edit & impute • Derive new variables & units • Calculate weights • Calculate aggregates • Finalize data files
• Prepare draft outputs • Validate outputs • Interpret & explain outputs • Apply disclosure control • Finalize outputs
• Update output systems • Produce dissemination products • Manage release of dissemination products • Promote dissemination products
Manage
Plan
Monitor
Adjust
• Secure project approval & funding • Plan project tasks, timetable, budget & resources • Plan quality & performance metrics & targets
• Monitor project quality & performance • Monitor project budgets & timetables • Identify emerging risks & issues • Report on project progress
• Develop corrective actions & strategies • Revise project plan • Communicate corrective actions & revised expectations

8. Design considerations
Each of the four sub-models within the SN BAM are designed to:
be futuristic, and support SN needs for at least the next 5 years
give focus on those activities which need either increased or explicit attention as the SN moves towards its 'future state'
have activity names and descriptions that are intuitive to business areas
have activities that are discrete and non-overlapping with other activities in the model wherever practical
have activities that can be undertaken in any order - there is no set or prescribed sequence of activities
be independent of organisational structure or lines of management and distribution of human resources.

9. So how can it be used?
This SN BAM plays a pivotal role in helping to describe the key business activities common to all statistical organizations
By taking a holistic view of an NSI, all the key activities needed to secure successful outcomes for the organization (e.g. external collaboration, internal capability development, managing organizational finances, etc.) can receive the attention they deserve, not just the statistical production activities
This is perhaps the most important ‘take home’ message from the model overall
In addition, SN players can more readily identify gaps in effort, areas of duplication, and where there is a need for increased standardization
The model also facilitates sharing of best practice methods, standards, processes and systems needed to support key business activities

10. So how can it be used? (Cont.)
More specifically, the SN BAM is a multi-level business activity model that:
supports business re-engineering activity
facilitates implementation of Enterprise Architecture design principles (see SN BA decision and design principles in Appendix A2.2), and an ‘assemble to order’ or Service Oriented Architecture approach to delivering services
supports organizational planning and governance
supports production cycle and project planning and scheduling
promotes a common language that staff both within and across NSIs can relate to and are comfortable to use
facilitates knowledge management in production cycles and other projects
supports effort recording, a key metric for evaluating expenditure on different activities across an NSI.
Activity identification will also inform the Capability Architecture development work forming Phase 2 of the SN BA project

11. Supporting documents
There are a number of supporting documents to be completed, including:
how the generic framework can be leveraged by NSIs
connections between the SN Business Activity Model and GSBPM and GSIM
These supporting documents are not critical for SN SC consideration and endorsement of the model, but they will be completed as part of the overall communication package that supports the model

12. Next steps The following ‘next steps’ are proposed for the model:
Undertake a brief circulation to SN member agencies to get critical or significant feedback (with comments restricted to important issues only)
Incorporate final SN member feedback and sign off on V1.0 of the model
Circulate the model for use by SN members and other fora as appropriate (e.g. CSPA, GSBPM, GSIM, etc.)
Target for circulation is late July 2014