Today’s enterprises are more than ever forced both to react to environmental changes resulting from a staggering globalized economy and to proactively seek new business opportunities. These aspects demand that an enterprise not only has its business—and IT—functions aligned, but also has incorporated management policies that increase overall flexibility and agility. To enable this enterprise agility, managers must know what their company is good at and which areas retain potential for improvement.

In Business Capability Modeling: Theory and Practice, we introduced a set of techniques for modeling business capabilities: unique combinations of people, business processes, and physical assets that deliver value to customers or shareholders. The business capability model is a useful abstraction that connects business strategy to the future business architecture.

The point of knowledge (POK) is a real place. POK is where elements of know-how for business operations are developed, applied, assessed, and ultimately retired. In other words, POK is where business rules happen. Knowledge is power, so you can also think about POK as point of empowerment.