Value Streams Inventory and Attributes on International Foundation for Information Technology (IF4IT)

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

About This Inventory

The Value Streams Inventory governs the enterprise’s portfolio of value streams — the end-to-end flows through which the organization delivers value to its stakeholders. A value stream is not a process, not a capability, and not an organizational unit: it is the flow itself, viewed from the stakeholder need that triggers it through to the value that is ultimately delivered. The inventory records each Value Stream as a governed Noun Instance with a unique Semantic ID, an ordered sequence of stages, a triggering stakeholder and a receiving stakeholder, and the full set of governance attributes needed to assess its performance, its health, its cost, and its strategic importance.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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The following terms are used throughout this document with specific meanings. Terms defined in the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document or in discipline-specific Best Practices documents are not duplicated here — refer to those documents for broader inventory governance vocabulary.

Term	Definition
Value Stream	An end-to-end sequence of stages through which the enterprise delivers a specific form of value to a specific stakeholder, beginning with a triggering stakeholder need and ending with delivered value. Stable across the process redesigns, technology replacements, and reorganizations that change how it is carried out.
Value Stream Stage	A distinct phase of a value stream’s end-to-end flow. Stages are ordered in sequence; value is created progressively as an instance of the value stream moves from stage to stage. In this version of the inventory, stages are captured as an ordered attribute of the Value Stream.
Operational Value Stream	A value stream that delivers value to a customer or stakeholder in the course of running the enterprise. The primary construct governed by this inventory.
Development Value Stream	A value stream that builds and delivers the products, systems, and solutions that operational value streams depend on — most commonly, the flow by which new software is conceived, built, and deployed.
Triggering Stakeholder	The stakeholder whose need, request, or action initiates a value stream — the party at the starting end of the flow.
Receiving Stakeholder	The stakeholder who receives the value delivered by a value stream — the party at the completing end of the flow. Often, but not always, the same party as the Triggering Stakeholder.
Trigger	The specific event, condition, or request that initiates an instance of a value stream. Distinct from the Triggering Stakeholder, which is the party associated with that event.
Enabling Capability	A Capability that a value stream draws upon to do the work of its stages. Recorded in the Capabilities Inventory; referenced by the value stream’s Enabling Capabilities attribute. The reciprocal of the Capabilities Inventory’s Parent Value Streams attribute.
Flow Efficiency	The ratio of value-adding time to total elapsed time across a value stream, expressed as a percentage. The signature diagnostic metric of value stream health — a low value reveals a flow dominated by waiting and hand-offs rather than value-adding work.
End-to-End Cycle Time	The total elapsed time from a value stream’s triggering event to its delivery of value.
Bottleneck Stage	The stage of a value stream that most constrains the throughput of the whole flow. The bottleneck moves over time as the value stream is improved.
Semantic ID	The structured, human-readable, AI-friendly unique identifier assigned to every Value Stream following the enterprise naming convention. Permanent and never reused once assigned.
Business Classification	The broad business domain a Value Stream primarily serves: Industry-Specific, Core Business, or Information Technology (IT). Unlike in the Capabilities Inventory, where these values define a hierarchy, here they are a flat classification tag, because value streams characteristically cross domains.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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The Value Streams Inventory governs every value stream the enterprise operates — every end-to-end flow through which the organization delivers value to a stakeholder. A value stream qualifies for an entry when it represents a distinct, named, end-to-end flow that begins with an identifiable triggering stakeholder need and ends with an identifiable delivery of value. Every entry is a Noun Instance of the Value Stream Noun Type, with its own Semantic ID, its own ordered sequence of stages, its own triggering and receiving stakeholders, and its own performance, health, and strategic profile.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Enterprise Architecture depends on this inventory as the view of how the enterprise delivers value. An enterprise can know its capabilities, its applications, and its processes in complete detail and still be unable to answer the question its stakeholders care about most: how is value actually delivered, end to end, and where is its delivery slow, constrained, or failing? The Value Streams Inventory is the artifact that answers that question. It provides the end-to-end view that no capability-level, application-level, or process-level inventory can provide on its own.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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The Value Streams Inventory has its most important relationship with the Capabilities Inventory and Attributes. A value stream is enabled by the Capabilities its stages draw upon; the Capabilities Inventory is authoritative for Capability definitions, and the Value Streams Inventory references them through its Enabling Capabilities attribute. The relationship is the reciprocal of the Capabilities Inventory’s Parent Value Streams attribute — the same relationship viewed from each side.

The Value Streams Inventory relates to the Applications Inventory and Attributes. Applications support the stages of a value stream; the relationship is generally derived through the Capabilities the value stream draws upon and the applications that support those Capabilities.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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The Value Streams Inventory is one of the recognized Noun Types in the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management taxonomy — the master catalog of all enterprise inventory types. The full taxonomy, its governance principles, and the Inventory of Inventories are documented in the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document.

Within the taxonomy, the Value Stream is the Noun Type that represents end-to-end value delivery. Its most directly related Noun Types are: Capability — a value stream is enabled by Capabilities; refer to the Capabilities Inventory and Attributes. Application — applications support the stages of a value stream; refer to the Applications Inventory and Attributes. Process — processes operationalize value streams; the Processes Inventory is not yet published. Organizational Unit — organizational units own and operate value stream stages; the Organizational Units Inventory is not yet published. Vendor — vendors participate in value stream delivery; refer to the Vendors Inventory and Attributes. Data and Information Type — value streams consume and produce data; refer to the Data and Information Inventory and Attributes. Regulatory Obligation — regulatory obligations bind value streams; the Regulatory Obligations Inventory is not yet published. Value Stream Stage — the anticipated Noun Type into which enterprises break out value stream stages when they need to govern them as first-class entities.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Section A — Sourcing and Harvesting

Before building the Value Streams Inventory from scratch, assess whether value stream definitions already exist in the enterprise. Common sources include business architecture deliverables and capability-mapping work, which frequently identify value streams alongside capabilities; operating model documentation; Lean or process-improvement initiatives, which often produce value stream maps; and frameworks specific to the enterprise’s industry. Harvesting from these sources reduces the initial definition effort. AI agents are also effective for bootstrapping a Value Streams Inventory: an agent can propose an initial set of value streams for a given industry, drawing on well-understood value stream patterns, which practitioners then validate and refine. AI-generated records must be treated as a starting point requiring human validation, and their origin documented in the Provenance and Audit attributes.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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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.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Classification attributes position each Value Stream within the enterprise taxonomy — the broad business domain it serves, whether it is operational or developmental in nature, and its role relative to the enterprise mission.

Attribute Name	Maturity	Description and Notes
Business Classification	Crawl	Description — The broad business domain the Value Stream primarily serves, drawn from the same three-domain scheme used across the IF4IT inventory family. Benefit(s) — Enables portfolio-level analysis by domain. Provides vocabulary consistency with the Capabilities Inventory and other IF4IT inventories. Source — Manual Examples — Industry-Specific, Core Business, Information Technology (IT) Notes — Valid values: Industry-Specific \| Core Business \| Information Technology (IT). Unlike in the Capabilities Inventory — where these three values define a hierarchy — here they are a flat classification tag. Value Streams characteristically cross domains; classify each Value Stream by the primary domain of the value it delivers. An “Idea to Deployed Software” value stream is classified Information Technology (IT) because the delivered value is a technology capability, even though its trigger is a business demand.
Value Stream Type	Crawl	Description — Identifies whether the Value Stream delivers value directly to an external or business stakeholder, or builds and delivers the solutions that enable other Value Streams. Benefit(s) — Distinguishes the two fundamentally different kinds of value stream so that each can be analyzed and governed appropriately. Source — Manual Examples — Operational, Development Notes — Valid values: Operational \| Development. An Operational Value Stream delivers value to a customer or stakeholder in the course of running the enterprise. A Development Value Stream builds the products, systems, and solutions that the operational value streams depend on. This inventory governs both, with operational value streams as the primary construct.
Value Stream Category	Walk	Description — The Value Stream’s role relative to the enterprise mission and competitive position. Benefit(s) — Supports portfolio analysis by separating value streams that deliver the core mission from those that support or enable it. Source — Manual Examples — Core, Supporting, Enabling Notes — Valid values: Core \| Supporting \| Enabling. Core value streams deliver the enterprise’s primary value to its primary stakeholders. Supporting value streams sustain the enterprise’s ability to operate. Enabling value streams build the capacity that core and supporting value streams draw upon.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Ownership and Stakeholder attributes identify who is accountable for each Value Stream and — distinctively for value streams — the stakeholders at each end of the flow: the one whose need triggers it and the one who receives the value it delivers.

Attribute Name	Maturity	Description and Notes
Value Stream Owner	Crawl	Description — The named individual or role accountable for the end-to-end performance, health, and improvement of this Value Stream. Benefit(s) — Establishes clear accountability for value stream performance across organizational boundaries — value streams characteristically span multiple organizational units, and without a single accountable owner no one is responsible for the whole flow. Source — Manual Examples — VP of Customer Fulfillment, Head of Lending Operations, Director of Service Management Notes — A value stream owner is accountable for the flow as a whole, end to end, regardless of which organizational units perform individual stages.
Executive Sponsor	Walk	Description — The executive-level leader who sponsors the strategic development and improvement of this Value Stream. Benefit(s) — Enables escalation paths for value stream improvement efforts that require authority spanning multiple organizational units. Source — Manual Examples — Chief Operating Officer, Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Information Officer
Triggering Stakeholder	Crawl	Description — The stakeholder whose need, request, or action initiates the Value Stream — the party at the starting end of the flow. Benefit(s) — A Value Stream is defined by its endpoints. Identifying who triggers the flow is essential to understanding where the value stream begins and what need it exists to serve. Source — Manual Examples — Prospective Customer, Existing Member, Internal Employee, Business Sponsor Notes — The Triggering Stakeholder is a role or party, distinct from the Trigger (the specific initiating event) recorded in the Operational Attributes category.
Receiving Stakeholder	Crawl	Description — The stakeholder who receives the value delivered by the Value Stream — the party at the completing end of the flow. Benefit(s) — Identifies for whom the value stream creates value, which is essential to assessing whether the value stream is delivering its intended outcome. Source — Manual Examples — Customer, Policyholder, Funded Borrower, Business Unit Notes — The Receiving Stakeholder is often but not always the same party as the Triggering Stakeholder. When they differ, both should be recorded.
Owning Organization	Walk	Description — The organizational unit that has administrative ownership of the Value Stream and is accountable for its governance. Benefit(s) — Places the Value Stream in the enterprise organizational structure and identifies where governance accountability sits, even though the value stream itself spans multiple units operationally. Source — Manual Examples — Customer Operations, Lending Division, IT Service Management Notes — A value stream is operated across many organizational units; the Owning Organization is the one accountable for governing the value stream as a managed entity.
Key Stakeholders [Multi-Value]	Walk	Description — Other parties materially involved in or affected by the Value Stream beyond the triggering and receiving stakeholders. Benefit(s) — Surfaces the full set of parties whose interests must be considered in value stream governance and improvement. Source — Manual Examples — Regulators; Channel Partners; Internal Audit; Operations Teams Notes — Separate multiple stakeholders with semicolons.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Lifecycle and Status attributes track the current state of each Value Stream and the key dates associated with lifecycle transitions.

Attribute Name	Maturity	Description and Notes
Lifecycle Status	Crawl	Description — The current state of the Value Stream in its governed lifecycle. Benefit(s) — Enables the value stream portfolio to distinguish actively governed value streams from those in transition or exited. Source — Manual Examples — Proposed, Active, Under Review, Deprecated, Retired Notes — Valid values: Proposed, Active, Under Review, Deprecated, Retired. Status changes require inventory owner approval.
Effective Date	Walk	Description — The date on which this Value Stream became Active. Benefit(s) — Enables longitudinal analysis of how the enterprise value stream portfolio has evolved. Source — Manual Examples — 2024-01-01, 2023-06-15
Planned Retirement Date	Walk	Description — The date on which this Value Stream is planned to reach Retired status. Populated only for Value Streams in Deprecated status. Benefit(s) — Enables transition planning for value streams scheduled for retirement or replacement. Source — Manual Examples — 2026-12-31, 2025-09-30 Notes — Use Not Applicable for Active and Proposed Value Streams.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Governance attributes document the bodies and review processes that govern each Value Stream and the dates that anchor the governance cycle.

Attribute Name	Maturity	Description and Notes
Governing Body	Walk	Description — The organizational body or function responsible for approving changes to this Value Stream’s definition, stage sequence, and governance attributes. Benefit(s) — Ensures changes to the value stream portfolio are governed rather than informal. Source — Manual Examples — Enterprise Architecture Review Board, Operations Governance Council, Business Architecture Committee
Review Cadence	Walk	Description — How often this Value Stream record is formally reviewed for accuracy, completeness, and currency. Benefit(s) — Ensures governance attention is proportional to strategic importance. Source — Manual Examples — Quarterly, Semi-Annual, Annual Notes — Minimum: Annual for all Active Value Streams. Quarterly recommended for value streams of Critical strategic importance.
Last Reviewed Date	Walk	Description — The date on which this Value Stream record was most recently reviewed under its governance cadence. Benefit(s) — Surfaces Value Streams whose review is overdue against the established cadence. Anchors the audit trail of inventory governance activity. Source — Manual Examples — 2026-03-15, 2025-11-01
Next Review Date	Walk	Description — The next scheduled review date for this Value Stream, computed from the Last Reviewed Date and the Review Cadence. Benefit(s) — Drives the inventory’s governance work queue. Makes upcoming review obligations visible without requiring computation. Source — Derived Examples — 2026-09-15, 2026-11-01 Notes — At Crawl maturity, populated manually. At Walk and Run maturity, derived automatically from Last Reviewed Date plus Review Cadence.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Strategic attributes capture the value the Value Stream delivers and the enterprise’s stated direction for it — its importance, its alignment to strategic goals, and the investment intention behind it.

Attribute Name	Maturity	Description and Notes
Value Proposition	Crawl	Description — The core value the Value Stream delivers to its receiving stakeholder — the concise statement of why the value stream exists and what outcome it produces. Benefit(s) — Anchors every analysis of the value stream in the value it is meant to deliver, preventing improvement efforts from optimizing activity that does not contribute to the outcome. Source — Manual Examples — A funded loan delivered to a qualified borrower with minimum friction; Restored service for an affected user in the shortest feasible time
Strategic Importance	Walk	Description — The assessed importance of this Value Stream to the enterprise’s ability to execute its strategy and compete. Benefit(s) — Enables risk-weighted portfolio analysis — identifying high-importance value streams that are underperforming or poorly supported. Source — Manual Examples — Low, Medium, High, Critical Notes — Valid values: Low \| Medium \| High \| Critical. Assessed annually.
Strategic Goals Alignment [Multi-Value]	Walk	Description — The enterprise strategic goals or objectives that this Value Stream directly enables or supports. Benefit(s) — Creates a traceable link from the value stream portfolio to executive-level strategic intent. Source — Manual Examples — Customer Experience Transformation; Revenue Growth; Operational Efficiency; Time-to-Market Improvement Notes — Use official strategic goal names. Separate multiple values with semicolons.
Investment Priority	Walk	Description — The enterprise’s stated intention for investment in this Value Stream: whether to actively improve it, maintain it at current levels, or reduce investment. Benefit(s) — Drives portfolio investment decisions by connecting improvement funding to explicit value-stream-level intentions. Source — Manual Examples — Invest, Sustain, Disinvest Notes — Valid values: Invest, Sustain, Disinvest.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Assessment and Health attributes capture the measured and evaluated state of each Value Stream — how long it takes end to end, how efficiently value flows through it, where it is constrained, and how it scores against assessed dimensions.

Attribute Name	Maturity	Description and Notes
End-to-End Cycle Time	Walk	Description — The total elapsed time from the triggering event to the delivery of value, measured across the entire Value Stream. Benefit(s) — The single most recognizable value stream performance measure — the basis for improvement targets and for comparison against stakeholder expectations. Source — Manual Examples — 8 business days (Order to Cash); 4 hours (Incident to Resolution) Notes — Record the typical or median elapsed time, and note the measurement basis. Elapsed (calendar) time, not active working time.
Flow Efficiency	Run	Description — The ratio of value-adding time to total elapsed time across the Value Stream, expressed as a percentage. It quantifies how much of the end-to-end cycle time is spent actively creating value versus waiting. Benefit(s) — The signature diagnostic metric of value stream health. A low flow efficiency reveals that the value stream is dominated by waiting, hand-offs, and queues rather than by value-adding work. Source — Calculated Notes — Calculated as value-add time divided by total lead time. Most value streams that have never been analyzed exhibit flow efficiency well below 25 percent. Run-tier because it requires measuring value-add versus wait time at each stage.
Bottleneck Stage	Run	Description — The stage of the Value Stream currently constraining overall flow — the stage whose capacity or cycle time most limits the throughput of the whole value stream. Benefit(s) — Directs improvement effort to the single point where it will most improve end-to-end performance. Source — Manual Examples — Underwriting and Decisioning; Assessment and Investigation Notes — Names one of the stages listed in the Value Stream Stages attribute. The bottleneck moves over time as the value stream is improved; this attribute reflects the current constraint.
Assessed Maturity	Walk	Description — A practitioner assessment of how well the enterprise performs this Value Stream relative to industry peers and best practices. Benefit(s) — Connects the value stream portfolio to improvement investment decisions. Source — Manual Examples — Exceeds Industry, On-Par w/ Industry, Lags Industry, Non-Existing Notes — Valid values: Exceeds Industry, On-Par w/ Industry, Lags Industry, Non-Existing. Assessed annually.
Performance Rating	Walk	Description — A health and performance summary for the Value Stream, updated on the inventory’s review cadence. Benefit(s) — Enables a portfolio-level value stream health dashboard. Source — Manual Examples — Red, Yellow, Green Notes — Valid values: Red \| Yellow \| Green.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Technical attributes capture technology characteristics relevant to the Value Stream.

The IF4IT has not yet identified standard attributes in this category for the Value Streams Inventory. This does not mean no such attributes exist — organizations building this inventory are encouraged to identify and define attributes in this category that are relevant to their specific context and governance needs.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Operational attributes capture how the Value Stream runs in practice — what initiates it, what marks it complete, the volume it carries, when it operates, and the indicators by which its performance is measured.

Attribute Name	Maturity	Description and Notes
Trigger	Crawl	Description — The specific event, condition, or request that initiates an instance of the Value Stream. Benefit(s) — Defines precisely where the value stream begins, which is essential to measuring it and to distinguishing it from adjacent value streams. Source — Manual Examples — Customer submits an order; User reports a service disruption; New hire accepts an offer Notes — The Trigger is the initiating event. The party associated with that event is recorded separately as the Triggering Stakeholder in the Ownership and Stakeholder Attributes category.
End State / Value Delivered	Crawl	Description — The concrete outcome that marks an instance of the Value Stream complete — the delivered value in its final, realized form. Benefit(s) — Defines precisely where the value stream ends and what it produces, which is essential to assessing whether it succeeded. Source — Manual Examples — Revenue recognized and order fulfilled; Service restored and incident closed; Employee fully provisioned and productive Notes — The End State is the outcome. The party who receives it is recorded separately as the Receiving Stakeholder in the Ownership and Stakeholder Attributes category.
Throughput / Volume	Walk	Description — The volume of Value Stream instances processed over a defined period. Benefit(s) — Establishes the scale of the value stream, which is essential context for prioritization, capacity planning, and improvement business cases. Source — Manual Examples — 12,000 orders per month; 450 loan applications per week; 8,000 incidents per month Notes — Record the volume and the period it is measured over.
Operating Hours	Walk	Description — When the Value Stream is operationally active and able to process instances. Benefit(s) — Distinguishes continuously-running value streams from those that operate on a business-hours or scheduled basis. Informs capacity and continuity planning. Source — Manual Examples — 24×7, Business Hours (Mon–Fri 8am–6pm), Business Days
Key Performance Indicators [Multi-Value]	Walk	Description — The indicators used to measure the operational performance of the Value Stream. Benefit(s) — Connects the value stream to measurable outcomes and provides the basis for improvement targets. Source — Manual Examples — End-to-End Cycle Time; First-Pass Yield; On-Time Delivery Rate; Customer Satisfaction Score Notes — Separate multiple KPIs with semicolons. Focus on outcome indicators measured across the whole value stream.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Security attributes capture the security considerations associated with the Value Stream and the information that flows through it.

Attribute Name	Maturity	Description and Notes
Data Sensitivity	Walk	Description — The highest sensitivity classification of any data that flows through the Value Stream. Benefit(s) — Surfaces value streams that handle regulated or sensitive information, informing where security and compliance controls must be concentrated. Source — Manual Examples — Public, Internal, Confidential, Restricted, Regulated Notes — Reflects the highest sensitivity of any data type consumed or produced by the value stream.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Data and Information attributes capture the data that flows into and out of the Value Stream, connecting it to the enterprise data architecture.

Attribute Name	Maturity	Description and Notes
Key Input Data and Information [Multi-Value]	Walk	Description — The primary Data and Information Types that the Value Stream consumes as inputs. Benefit(s) — Creates value-stream-level data lineage and enables impact analysis when a data source changes. Source — Manual Examples — Customer Order Data; Product Catalog Data; Credit Bureau Data Notes — Separate multiple values with semicolons. References Data and Information Types from the Data and Information Inventory.
Key Output Data and Information [Multi-Value]	Walk	Description — The primary Data and Information Types that the Value Stream produces as outputs. Benefit(s) — Identifies which value streams are authoritative sources for which data types. Source — Manual Examples — Recognized Revenue Records; Funded Loan Records; Resolved Incident Records Notes — Separate multiple values with semicolons. References Data and Information Types from the Data and Information Inventory.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Geographic and Jurisdictional attributes capture where the Value Stream operates and which regulatory jurisdictions govern it.

Attribute Name	Maturity	Description and Notes
Geographic Scope	Walk	Description — The geographic extent across which the Value Stream operates. Benefit(s) — Enables identification of value streams that require multi-jurisdictional governance and compliance management. Source — Manual Examples — Global, North America, EMEA, United States Notes — For value streams operating in multiple but not all regions, list regions separated by semicolons.
Operating Jurisdiction [Multi-Value]	Walk	Description — The legal and regulatory jurisdictions within which the Value Stream operates. Benefit(s) — Surfaces the compliance and regulatory obligations that apply to the value stream. Source — Manual Examples — United States (SOX); European Union (GDPR); United Kingdom (FCA) Notes — Separate multiple jurisdictions with semicolons.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Temporal and Effective Date attributes capture the validity window of the Value Stream.

Attribute Name	Maturity	Description and Notes
Effective From	Walk	Description — The date from which the Value Stream is recognized as part of the governed enterprise value stream portfolio. Benefit(s) — Supports longitudinal portfolio analysis. Source — Manual Examples — 2024-01-01, 2023-07-01

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Contractual and Legal attributes capture legal instruments that govern the Value Stream.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Vendor and Supplier attributes capture external parties that participate in delivering the Value Stream.

Attribute Name	Maturity	Description and Notes
Participating Vendors [Multi-Value]	Walk	Description — The vendors or service providers that perform or materially support one or more stages of the Value Stream. Benefit(s) — Surfaces the enterprise’s vendor dependency at the value stream level — revealing which end-to-end flows depend on external parties and where. Source — Manual Examples — Credit Bureau Provider; Payment Processor; Logistics Carrier Notes — Separate multiple vendors with semicolons. Use Not Applicable when no vendors participate. References vendors from the Vendors Inventory.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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IT Environment attributes capture the IT operating environment characteristics relevant to the Value Stream.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Skills and Competencies attributes capture the human capabilities required to operate the Value Stream.

Attribute Name	Maturity	Description and Notes
Required Skills [Multi-Value]	Walk	Description — The primary skills and competencies required to operate the Value Stream effectively across its stages. Benefit(s) — Connects the value stream portfolio to workforce planning. Source — Manual Examples — Order Management; Credit Analysis; Customer Service; Process Improvement Notes — Separate multiple skills with semicolons.
Key Roles [Multi-Value]	Walk	Description — The organizational roles or job titles primarily responsible for performing the work of the Value Stream. Benefit(s) — Supports workforce planning and organizational design. Source — Manual Examples — Order Management Specialist; Credit Analyst; Service Desk Agent; Value Stream Analyst Notes — Separate multiple roles with semicolons.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Provenance and Audit attributes capture metadata about the inventory record itself — how it was created, when it was last updated, and the reliability of its content.

Attribute Name	Maturity	Description and Notes
Record Created Date	Walk	Description — The date on which this Value Stream record was first created in the inventory. Benefit(s) — Supports audit and compliance reporting. Source — Manual Examples — 2024-03-15, 2023-10-01
Record Created By	Walk	Description — The name or role of the individual who created this Value Stream record. Benefit(s) — Provides accountability for record creation. Source — Manual Examples — Jane Smith (EA Lead), AI Agent (Claude, 2026-05-19)
Last Updated Date	Walk	Description — The date on which any attribute of this Value Stream record was last modified. Benefit(s) — Enables identification of stale records not reviewed within the expected reconciliation cadence. Source — Manual Examples — 2026-05-19, 2025-12-01
Data Source	Walk	Description — The origin of the data in this Value Stream record. Benefit(s) — Enables data quality assessment and reconciliation. Source — Manual Examples — EA Workshop (2024-Q1), Business Process Model Export, Operations Documentation Notes — When AI-generated, document the generation method and the validating individual.
AI-Generated	Walk	Description — Indicates whether this record was initially generated by an AI agent. AI-generated records require human validation before being considered authoritative. Benefit(s) — Maintains transparency about record provenance and enables targeted validation. Source — Manual Examples — Yes (validated), Yes (pending validation), No Notes — Once validated, update to “Yes (validated)” and record the validator’s name in Record Created By.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Risk attributes capture the known risk profile of each Value Stream — the likelihood and impact of value stream failure or degradation.

Attribute Name	Maturity	Description and Notes
Assessed Risk	Walk	Description — The practitioner’s overall assessment of the risk associated with this Value Stream. Benefit(s) — Surfaces high-risk value streams for priority attention in governance reviews and improvement decisions. Source — Manual Examples — Very High, High, Medium, Low, Very Low Notes — Valid values: Very High \| High \| Medium \| Low \| Very Low. Assessed annually.
Key Risk Factors [Multi-Value]	Walk	Description — The specific factors driving the Assessed Risk rating. Benefit(s) — Translates the overall risk rating into actionable intelligence for mitigation planning. Source — Manual Examples — Single vendor dependency at a critical stage; Manual hand-offs between stages; Long-cycle bottleneck with no redundancy Notes — Separate multiple risk factors with semicolons.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Compliance and Regulatory attributes capture the regulatory obligations that apply to the Value Stream and its current compliance posture.

Attribute Name	Maturity	Description and Notes
Regulatory Obligations [Multi-Value]	Walk	Description — The specific regulatory requirements, laws, or compliance frameworks that apply to the operation of this Value Stream. Benefit(s) — Connects the value stream portfolio to the regulatory compliance landscape. Source — Manual Examples — SOX Section 404; GDPR Article 17; PCI-DSS; Fair Lending Regulations Notes — Separate multiple obligations with semicolons.
Compliance Status	Walk	Description — The current compliance status of this Value Stream with respect to its applicable regulatory obligations. Benefit(s) — Enables a compliance dashboard at the value stream level. Source — Manual Examples — Compliant, Partially Compliant, Non-Compliant, Under Assessment Notes — Valid values: Compliant, Partially Compliant, Non-Compliant, Under Assessment.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Financial attributes capture the cost and value profile of each Value Stream.

Attribute Name	Maturity	Description and Notes
Cost to Operate	Walk	Description — The total annual fully-loaded cost to operate the Value Stream, including people, technology, and vendor costs across all stages. Benefit(s) — Enables value-stream-level financial analysis and supports improvement business cases. Source — Manual Notes — Typically an estimated allocation at Walk maturity. A rough order of magnitude is more useful than no value.
Value Delivered (Financial)	Run	Description — The quantified business value the Value Stream produces — the revenue it generates, the cost it avoids, or the financial contribution it makes to the enterprise. Benefit(s) — Enables return-on-investment analysis at the value stream level and prioritization of improvement investment. Source — Manual Notes — Where direct financial quantification is not possible, describe the value contribution qualitatively.

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Relationship attributes connect each Value Stream to related Noun Instances in other inventories, forming the edges of the Enterprise Model graph for the Value Stream Noun Type.

With the exception of Enabling Capabilities and Related Value Streams, every attribute in this category is Derived from records in other inventories. Derived attributes require no manual data entry — do not create data entry fields for them.

Attribute Name	Maturity	Description and Notes
Enabling Capabilities [Multi-Value]	Walk	Description — The Capabilities that the Value Stream draws upon to do its work, across all of its stages. Benefit(s) — The primary cross-inventory relationship for the Value Stream Noun Type. It connects the value delivery view of the enterprise to the capability view, and is the reciprocal of the Parent Value Streams attribute in the Capabilities Inventory. Source — Manual Examples — Order Management; Credit Assessment; Identity Verification; Payment Processing Notes — References Capabilities by Semantic ID from the Capabilities Inventory. In this version of the inventory, Enabling Capabilities relates Capabilities to the Value Stream as a whole. Enterprises that need to know which Capabilities enable which individual stage may promote stages to a separate Value Stream Stages Inventory, where Capabilities are related directly to individual stages and the value-stream-level relationship becomes derived. Separate multiple values with semicolons.
Supporting Applications [Multi-Value]	Run	Description — The Applications that support the stages of the Value Stream, referenced by Semantic ID from the Applications Inventory. Benefit(s) — Connects the value delivery view to the application portfolio, enabling analysis of which applications underpin which end-to-end flows. Source — Derived Notes — Derived from the Applications Inventory and from the Capabilities the value stream draws upon.
Realizing Processes [Multi-Value]	Run	Description — The Processes that operationalize the Value Stream — the sequenced activities that carry out the work of its stages. Benefit(s) — Connects the value delivery view to the process view, distinguishing what value is delivered from how the work is carried out. Source — Derived Notes — Derived from the Processes Inventory when published. Refer to the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document.
Owning Organizational Units [Multi-Value]	Run	Description — The Organizational Units that own and operate the stages of the Value Stream. Benefit(s) — Maps organizational accountability to the value delivery view and reveals where a single value stream crosses organizational boundaries. Source — Derived Notes — Derived from the Organizational Units Inventory when published. Refer to the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document.
Related Vendors [Multi-Value]	Run	Description — The Vendors that participate in delivering the Value Stream, referenced by Semantic ID from the Vendors Inventory. Benefit(s) — Surfaces vendor dependency at the value stream level for concentration and continuity analysis. Source — Derived Notes — Derived from the Vendors Inventory. Complements the Participating Vendors attribute in the Vendor and Supplier Attributes category.
Related Regulatory Obligations [Multi-Value]	Run	Description — The Regulatory Obligations to which the Value Stream is subject, referenced by Semantic ID from the Regulatory Obligations Inventory. Benefit(s) — Connects the value delivery view to the structured regulatory obligation register, complementing the descriptive Regulatory Obligations attribute in the Compliance and Regulatory Attributes category. Source — Derived Notes — Derived from the Regulatory Obligations Inventory when published. Refer to the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document.
Related Value Streams [Multi-Value]	Walk	Description — Other Value Streams that this Value Stream feeds, consumes from, or runs in parallel with. Benefit(s) — Reveals the network of value streams across the enterprise — where the output of one flow triggers another, and where flows depend on one another. Source — Manual Examples — Idea to Deployed Software; Procure to Pay; Hire to Retire Notes — References other Value Streams by Semantic ID from this inventory. Separate multiple values with semicolons.

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The relationship between Value Streams and Capabilities is the most important cross-inventory relationship the Value Streams Inventory carries. A value stream is composed of an ordered sequence of stages, and is enabled by the set of Capabilities those stages draw upon. The Capabilities Inventory and Attributes is authoritative for Capability definitions; the Value Streams Inventory references Capabilities through its Enabling Capabilities attribute.

The relationship is the reciprocal of the Parent Value Streams attribute carried by the Capabilities Inventory. The same relationship is therefore visible from both sides: from a value stream, the Capabilities it draws upon; from a Capability, the value streams that depend on it. This bidirectional connection is what allows an enterprise to trace value delivery to the abilities that produce it, and to assess how a weakness in a Capability propagates into the flows of value that depend on it.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Applications support the stages of a value stream. The Applications Inventory and Attributes is authoritative for Application records. In the Value Streams Inventory, the Supporting Applications relationship attribute is generally derived: it is computed through the Capabilities a value stream draws upon and the applications that, in the Applications Inventory, are recorded as supporting those Capabilities.

This derived relationship lets an enterprise see which applications underpin which end-to-end flows of value — and therefore which value streams are exposed when an application is unavailable, degraded, or scheduled for replacement. It connects application portfolio decisions to the value delivery they affect.

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Processes operationalize value streams. Where a value stream describes what value is delivered and in what ordered sequence of stages, a process describes how the work of a stage is actually carried out — the detailed, sequenced activities, the rules, and the steps. A value stream is realized through processes, but the two are distinct: the value stream is stable and stakeholder-anchored, while the processes beneath it are volatile and method-anchored, changing as the enterprise re-engineers how work is done.

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Organizational units own and operate the stages of a value stream. Because a value stream characteristically crosses several organizational units — each stage may be performed by a different part of the enterprise — this relationship is essential to understanding how accountability for an end-to-end flow is distributed, and where the hand-offs between units occur.

The Organizational Units Inventory is not yet published — refer to the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document. When it is published, the Owning Organizational Units relationship attribute in this inventory will map each value stream to the units that operate its stages, making visible the cross-organizational nature of value delivery and the points where a flow passes from one unit to another.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Vendors participate in delivering value streams — performing or materially supporting individual stages. A value stream’s Participating Vendors attribute records those vendors directly, and the Related Vendors relationship attribute connects the value stream to the Vendors Inventory and Attributes, which is authoritative for Vendor records.

This relationship surfaces where an end-to-end flow of value depends on an external party. It enables value-stream-level vendor analysis: which value streams would be disrupted if a vendor failed to perform, which flows depend on a vendor at a critical stage, and where vendor concentration creates risk to value delivery.

Value Streams Inventory and Attributes

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Value streams consume input data and produce output data. The Data and Information Inventory and Attributes governs the Data and Information Types of the enterprise. In the Value Streams Inventory, the Key Input Data and Information and Key Output Data and Information attributes record the data a value stream consumes and produces, referencing the Data and Information Types the Data and Information Inventory defines.

This relationship enables data lineage at the level of value delivery: it shows which value streams are the authoritative producers of which data, and which value streams depend on which data as input. That lineage supports impact analysis when a data source changes and clarifies which flows of value are affected by a data quality problem.

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Regulatory obligations bind value streams. A regulation frequently governs the way an entire end-to-end flow must be carried out — mandating controls, records, timeframes, or disclosures across the value stream. A value stream’s Regulatory Obligations attribute records the applicable regulations descriptively, and the Related Regulatory Obligations relationship attribute connects the value stream to the structured obligation register.

The Regulatory Obligations Inventory is not yet published — refer to the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document. When it is published, this relationship will let an enterprise see which value streams carry the heaviest regulatory load, which flows are exposed to a forthcoming regulatory change, and where compliance effort must be concentrated to protect value delivery.

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In this version of the Value Streams Inventory, the stages of a value stream are captured as an ordered descriptive attribute — the Value Stream Stages attribute — and the Capabilities that enable a value stream are related to the value stream as a whole. For many enterprises this is sufficient. It records the structure of each value stream and the Capabilities each flow depends on, and it supports analysis of value delivery at the level of the whole value stream.

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The Value Streams Inventory and Attributes document is one of many Noun Type inventories in the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management taxonomy. Each inventory in the taxonomy governs a distinct class of enterprise asset, relationship, or construct — and each contributes its records and relationships to the Enterprise Model that connects them all. The Value Streams Inventory holds a particular place in that taxonomy: it is the inventory of how value is delivered, and it gives every other inventory — capabilities, applications, processes, organizational units, vendors, data, regulatory obligations — a flow of value to which their contents can be connected. The full catalog of recognized Noun Types and the guidance for building and maturing a complete enterprise inventory program are documented in the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document.