Designing Business Architecture for Activity Capability Layer: A Qunar Case Study

The article introduces business architecture (BA) as a component of TOGAF’s enterprise architecture, defining business models, functions, processes, stakeholders, and organization structures, and contrasts it with application, technology, and data architectures.

Using Qunar’s activity capability layer as a concrete example, the author describes the current state of Qunar’s activity business, the blind‑box promotion workflow, and the associated technical challenges.

Three major pain points are identified: high change rates and effort for new activities, fragmented configuration causing high learning and execution costs, and long integration cycles that create backlog in the activity middle‑platform.

To address these issues, a layered architectural design is proposed, featuring an entry façade layer for multi‑channel adaptation, a middle‑platform layer for reusable activity services, and a configuration layer offering real‑time hot‑config capabilities and a no‑code backend for rapid deployment.

The article then outlines a systematic business‑architecture design process: clarifying business goals and logic, mapping business processes and stakeholders, identifying business capabilities, and defining concrete implementation plans. This methodology is illustrated with diagrams and step‑by‑step guidance, referencing TOGAF’s ADM for further study.

Finally, the author summarizes the importance of integrating business architecture into technical design, emphasizing continuous alignment with business needs and the value of standardized, reusable solutions for activity systems.