Value Streams Inventory and Attributes - Descriptive Attributes for the Value Streams Inventory

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

Chapter 8. Descriptive Attributes for the Value Streams Inventory

Descriptive attributes capture the core identity of each Value Stream Noun Instance — what it is called, what it delivers, the ordered sequence of stages that compose it, and the alternate names by which it is known across the enterprise.

Attribute Name	Maturity	Description and Notes
UID	Crawl	Description — A machine-readable system identifier generated by any source system that created or imported this Value Stream record. Optional — populated only when the Value Stream is sourced from an external system that assigns its own identifiers. Benefit(s) — Enables automated reconciliation between the Value Streams Inventory and source systems without relying solely on name matching. Source — Manual Examples — VS-00042, BPM-2207, ARIS-VS-118 Notes — Complements the Semantic ID. Leave empty when no source system generates an ID. Never reused after retirement.
Semantic ID	Crawl	Description — A unique, human-readable, self-documenting identifier assigned to every Value Stream following the enterprise naming convention. Permanent and never reused once assigned. The connective tissue of the Enterprise Model — enables cross-inventory traversal without ambiguity. Benefit(s) — Eliminates ambiguity when the same Value Stream is referenced across Enterprise Architecture deliverables, the Capabilities Inventory, and the Enterprise Model. Enables AI-assisted cross-inventory traversal without ETL transformation. Source — Manual Examples — /Enterprise/Value Streams/Order to Cash, /Enterprise/Value Streams/Idea to Deployed Software Notes — A path-based form is recommended for consistency with other IF4IT inventories, though Value Streams are not hierarchical — the path is an identifier convention, not a decomposition. Once assigned, permanent and never reused.
Display Name	Crawl	Description — The plain-English name of the Value Stream as it appears in reports, dashboards, and practitioner communications. Benefit(s) — Produces an immediately readable value stream portfolio. Separates permanent identity (Semantic ID) from current preferred label. Source — Manual Examples — Order to Cash, Concept to Launch, Incident to Resolution, Idea to Deployed Software Notes — By convention, a Value Stream is named for the endpoints of the flow — the triggering condition and the delivered value — joined by the word “to.”
Description and Purpose	Crawl	Description — A comprehensive description of what the Value Stream delivers, to whom it delivers value, the stakeholder need that initiates it, and how it differs from adjacent Value Streams. Always populated — never blank. Benefit(s) — The quality of the Description is the most important predictor of whether the Value Streams Inventory remains usable over time. Source — Manual Notes — Write in terms of value delivered and stakeholders served, not in terms of the activities or systems involved. Good: “The end-to-end flow by which a customer order becomes recognized revenue.” Poor: “The order team uses the ERP to process orders.”
Value Stream Stages [Multi-Value] [Ordered]	Crawl	Description — The ordered sequence of stages that compose the Value Stream, from the triggering stage through to the stage that delivers value. Each stage is a distinct phase of the end-to-end flow. Benefit(s) — Captures the internal structure of the Value Stream — the sequence of stages through which value is progressively created — without which the Value Stream cannot be analyzed, improved, or compared. Source — Manual Examples — Application Intake; Identity Verification; Credit Assessment; Underwriting and Decisioning; Offer and Acceptance; Closing and Funding Notes — Stages are listed in sequence order, separated by semicolons. In this version of the inventory, stages are captured as an ordered descriptive attribute of the Value Stream. Enterprises that need to govern stages as first-class entities — with their own identifiers, their own attributes, and Capabilities related directly to individual stages — may promote stages into a separate Value Stream Stages Inventory. See the Overview and the Relationships to Other Inventories section for a fuller discussion of this trade-off.
Aliases / Alternate Names [Multi-Value]	Walk	Description — Other names by which this Value Stream is known across the enterprise — synonyms, predecessor names from prior process or value stream models, team-specific vocabulary, or external framework names that map to this Value Stream. Benefit(s) — Eliminates cross-document reconciliation failures when the same Value Stream is referenced by different names in different artifacts. Supports AI-assisted name resolution during inventory harvesting. Source — Manual Examples — O2C; Quote to Cash; Order Management Flow Notes — Separate multiple aliases with semicolons. Use Not Applicable when no aliases exist.

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