While the BAA Technique shares some characteristics in common with architectural frameworks like The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) or the Scaled Architecture Framework (SAFe), Bloomberg has taken a different approach. The creators of these frameworks have taken a subtractive approach: in order to achieve a broad level of applicability, they have included many different options within their respective frameworks. Therefore, in order to make use of such a framework, the practitioner must pick and choose the elements of the framework that apply to their situation. Select the wrong elements for your problem area, or err on the side of caution and seek to implement too much of the framework at once, and your architecture initiative is likely to fail.
An Additive Approach: Unlike Architecture Frameworks
In contrast, the BAA Technique provides an additive approach: the technique provides a clear, implementable path to agility – but to follow BAA effectively, you would augment it with additional practices, technologies, and approaches in order to fully realize a complete architecture. Those additional elements may come from TOGAF or SAFe or other architectural frameworks, and furthermore, the practitioner must also add technology-centric practices from Cloud Computing, Big Data, SOA, or other approaches, depending upon the problem area.
The BAA Technique is also not a methodology. The word methodology implies a recipe of sorts, a step-by-step method for accomplishing a goal. However, BAA works at a different level: it focuses more on how to think about achieving the business goals, or in other words, the skills the practitioner needs in order to achieve business agility in their organization. Bloomberg, therefore, refers to BAA as a technique: the focus is not on various tools or artifacts, but on how to use them.
