A Context Diagram at the enterprise level of detail is referred to as a Business Context Diagram.
The Business Context Diagram shows the primary relationships between the organization and the external entities with which it deals. It helps to show the main classes of information that the business must manage in dealing with its environment.
External Entities on a Business Context Diagram
An external entity is defined as an external source or destination of data. The organization is concerned only with providing information to or receiving information from an external entity. It is not involved with what the external entity is outside the scope of analysis.
The external entities are defined in an external entities catalogue, and the nature of the relationships (i.e., data flows) are annotated on the lines and arrow heads of the context diagram.
EXAMPLE OF AN EXTERNAL ENTITIES CATALOG
Government Legislation may impact the overall mission of the University and cause changes to strategic and tactical plans. Government funding may also impact these plans by applying constraints to the University's implementation plans.
The User Community, of the University network, both internal and external, will influence strategic and tactical plans by making requests for hardware, software, or support.
Private Sector Funding, to a lesser extent than Government funding, may also apply constraints on the strategic and tactical plans for the University.
Industry, both inside and outside the province, will influence the strategic and tactical plans for the University by making requests to the University for services and setting new educational requirements for University programs.
The Education Community is made up of universities, public schools, vocational schools, private educational institutions, and university educators. This group will influence the strategic and tactical plans for the University in many ways, for example, by making requests for educational services, gaining a competitive advantage through technology, or gaining advancement in educational techniques.
Information Flows on a Business Context Diagram
The information that passes between the organization and the external entities is described by the text above the arrows. The arrows show the directional flow of the information.
Combining Business Context Diagrams
An alternate approach to creating one enterprise level diagram is to create individual Business Context Diagrams for each major component of the enterprise and then combine the diagrams to produce the overall diagram.
