Operating Model

In MIT CISR’s enterprise architecture framework, an operating model specifies the integration and standardization requirements of core business processes. Standardization concerns how consistently units perform work; integration concerns connected work and shared information. The two can vary independently. Similar units may repeat a common process with little exchange, while different processes can depend on shared customer or shipment information. This use of the term is narrower than an entire operating organization, which also needs responsibilities, resources, and management arrangements.

Four models

The four models describe different combinations. Unification combines standardized processes and integrated information. Coordination emphasizes integration across units that can retain different processes. Replication emphasizes common processes across units with relatively little interaction. Diversification gives distinct businesses more independence. The MIT CISR glossary describes these broad patterns; they do not assign every individual decision. For example, a fictional logistics group may standardize common warehouse steps while retaining local legal requirements and agreeing interfaces for multinational shipments. Naming that mixture helps state requirements, but the group must still assign authority for changes, exceptions, and funding.

How the requirements guide design

An operating model guides the foundation for execution and the target architecture. It does not uniquely determine their size, funding, implementation, or decision makers. Compare obligations, risk, cost, capacity, local knowledge, and existing systems before assigning decision rights. A common standard can have joint governance and local execution; shared capabilities can have central funding, joint funding, or an initial consumer that pays for later reuse. Business leaders and affected teams need to agree the requirements and revisit them as evidence changes. Thirty People in a Room Every Month shows how those requirements can inform an explicit delegation and escalation arrangement.

References:

• MIT CISR, Classic Topics: Enterprise Architecture
• MIT CISR, CISR Glossary: Enterprise Architecture