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The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) is the most used
framework A framework is a generic term commonly referring to an essential supporting structure which other things are built on top of. Framework may refer to: Computing * Application framework, used to implement the structure of an application for an op ...
for enterprise architecture as of 2020 that provides an approach for designing, planning, implementing, and governing an enterprise information technology architecture. TOGAF is a high-level approach to design. It is typically modeled at four levels: Business, Application, Data, and Technology. It relies heavily on modularization, standardization, and already existing, proven technologies and products. TOGAF was developed starting 1995 by
The Open Group The Open Group is a global consortium that seeks to "enable the achievement of business objectives" by developing "open, vendor-neutral technology standards and certifications." It has over 840 member organizations and provides a number of servi ...
, based on
United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...
's
TAFIM Technical Architecture Framework for Information Management (TAFIM) was a 1990s reference model for enterprise architecture by and for the United States Department of Defense (DoD). TAFIM provided enterprise-level guidance for the evolution of ...
and
Capgemini Capgemini SE is a multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting company, headquartered in Paris, France. History Capgemini was founded by Serge Kampf in 1967 as an enterprise management and data processing company. The comp ...
's
Integrated Architecture Framework The Integrated Architecture Framework (IAF) is an enterprise architecture framework that covers business, information, information system and technology infrastructure. This framework has been developed by Capgemini Capgemini SE is a multinat ...
(IAF). As of 2016, The Open Group claims that TOGAF is employed by 80% of Global 50 companies and 60% of
Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...
companies.


Overview

An
architecture framework The ISO/ IEC/IEEE 42010 Conceptual Model of Architecture Description defines the term architecture framework within systems engineering and software development as: "An architecture framework establishes a common practice for creating, interpre ...
is a set of tools which can be used for developing a broad range of different architectures. It should: * describe a method for defining an information system in terms of a set of building blocks. * show how the building blocks fit together. * contain a set of tools. * provide a common vocabulary. * include a list of recommended standards. * include a list of compliant products that can be used to implement the building blocks. The
ANSI The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organi ...
/
IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...
Standard 1471-2000 specification of architecture (of software-intensive systems) may be stated as: "the fundamental organization of a system, embodied in its components, their relationships to each other and the environment, and the principles governing its design and evolution." However TOGAF has its own view, which may be specified as either a "formal description of a system, or a detailed plan of the system at component level to guide its implementation", or as "the structure of components, their interrelationships, and the principles and guidelines governing their design and evolution over time." The Architecture Development Method (ADM) is the core of TOGAF which describes a method for developing and managing the lifecycle of enterprise architecture.


History

TOGAF was initiated in the early 1990s as methodology for the development of technical architecture, and has been developed by
The Open Group The Open Group is a global consortium that seeks to "enable the achievement of business objectives" by developing "open, vendor-neutral technology standards and certifications." It has over 840 member organizations and provides a number of servi ...
into an extensive
enterprise architecture framework An enterprise architecture framework (EA framework) defines how to create and use an enterprise architecture. An architecture framework provides principles and practices for creating and using the architecture description of a system. It struct ...
. In 1995, the first version of TOGAF (TOGAF 1.0) was presented. This version was mainly based on the
Technical Architecture Framework for Information Management Technical may refer to: * Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle * Technical analysis, a discipline for forecasting the future direction of prices through the study of past market data * Technical drawing, showing how something is co ...
(TAFIM), development started in the late 1980s by the
US Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...
. In December 2001 TOGAF 7, the "Technical Edition", was published. TOGAF 8 ("Enterprise Edition") was first published in December 2002 and republished in updated form as TOGAF 8.1 in December 2003. Around 2005 TOGAF became a registered trademark of
The Open Group The Open Group is a global consortium that seeks to "enable the achievement of business objectives" by developing "open, vendor-neutral technology standards and certifications." It has over 840 member organizations and provides a number of servi ...
. In November 2006 the Open Group released TOGAF 8.1.1. According to The Open Group, as of February 2011, over 15,000 individuals are TOGAF Certified. As of April 2018 the official register has over 77,500 certifications. An evolutionary development from TOGAF 8, TOGAF 9 includes many new features such as: * Increased rigor, including a formal Content Metamodel that links the artifacts of TOGAF together (although there are some problems with the Metamodel) * Architecture repository and the Enterprise Continuum * Elimination of unnecessary differences, and many more examples and templates Additional guidelines and techniques include: * A formal business-driven approach to architecture * Business capability-based planning * Guidance on how to use TOGAF to develop security architectures and SOA The latest version is TOGAF 10, launched on 25 April 2022.
The Open Group The Open Group is a global consortium that seeks to "enable the achievement of business objectives" by developing "open, vendor-neutral technology standards and certifications." It has over 840 member organizations and provides a number of servi ...
provides TOGAF free of charge to organizations for their own internal noncommercial purposes.The Open Group (2011). TOGAF® Version 9 - Download. Architecture Forum. Retrieved on 17 November 2011 from http://www.opengroup.org/architecture/togaf9/downloads.htm.


TOGAF pillars


Enterprise architecture domains

TOGAF is based on four interrelated areas of specialization called
architecture domain An architecture domain in enterprise architecture is a broad view of an enterprise or system. It is a partial representation of a whole system that addresses several concerns of several stakeholders. It is a description that hides other views or ...
s: *
Business architecture In the business sector, business architecture is a discipline that "represents holistic, multidimensional business views of: capabilities, end‐to‐end value delivery, information, and organizational structure; and the relationships among these ...
which defines the business strategy, governance, organization, and key business processes of the organization *
Data architecture Data architecture consist of models, policies, rules, and standards that govern which data is collected and how it is stored, arranged, integrated, and put to use in data systems and in organizations. Data is usually one of several architecture dom ...
which describes the structure of an organization's logical and physical data assets and the associated data management resources *
Applications architecture In information systems, applications architecture or application architecture is one of several architecture domains that form the pillars of an enterprise architecture (EA). An applications architecture describes the behavior of Application soft ...
which provides a blueprint for the individual systems to be deployed, the interactions between the application systems, and their relationships to the core business processes of the organization with the frameworks for services to be exposed as business functions for integration *
Technical architecture Information technology architecture is the process of development of methodical information technology specifications, models and guidelines, using a variety of information technology notations, for example Unified Modeling Language (UML), within a ...
, or ''technology architecture,'' which describes the hardware, software, and network infrastructure needed to support the deployment of core, mission-critical applications


Architecture Development Method

The Architecture Development Method (ADM) is applied to develop an enterprise architecture which will meet the business and information technology needs of an organization. It may be tailored to the organization's needs and is then employed to manage the execution of architecture planning activities. The process is iterative and cyclic. Each step checks with Requirements. Phase C involves some combination of both Data Architecture and Applications Architecture. Additional clarity can be added between steps B and C in order to provide a complete
information architecture Information architecture (IA) is the structural design of shared information environments; the art and science of organizing and labelling websites, intranets, online communities and software to support usability and findability; and an emerging ...
.
Performance engineering Performance engineering encompasses the techniques applied during a systems development life cycle to ensure the non-functional requirements for performance (such as throughput, latency, or memory usage) will be met. It may be alternatively refe ...
working practices are applied to the Requirements phase, and to the Business Architecture, Information System Architecture, and Technology architecture phases. Within Information System Architecture, it is applied to both the Data Architecture and Application Architecture.


Enterprise Continuum

The Enterprise Continuum is a way of classifying solutions and architectures on a continuum that range from generic foundation architectures through to tailored organization-specific both within and outside the Architecture Repository. These include architectural models, architectural patterns, architecture descriptions, and other artifacts. These artifacts may exist within the enterprise and also in the IT industry at large. The Enterprise Continuum consists of both the Architecture Continuum and the Solutions Continuum. The Architecture Continuum specifies the structuring of reusable architecture assets and includes rules, representations, and relationships of the information systems available to the enterprise. The Solutions Continuum describes the implementation of the Architecture Continuum by defining reusable Solution Building Blocks (SBBs).


Roles

TOGAF 9.2 recognizes the following roles; * Architecture Board Members * Architecture Sponsor * Architecture Manager * Architects: ** Enterprise Architect ** Business Architect **
Data Architect A data architect is a practitioner of data architecture, a data management discipline concerned with designing, creating, deploying and managing an organization's data architecture. Data architects define how the data will be stored, consumed, inte ...
** Application Architect ** Technology Architect *
Project Managers A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers have the responsibility of the planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any undertaking that has a defined scope, defined start and a defined ...
* IT Designer (Interpreted as
UX Design User experience design (UX design, UXD, UED, or XD) is the process of defining the experience a user would go through when interacting with a digital product or website. Design decisions in UX design are often driven by research, data analysis, an ...
) Whilst also adding "And many others ..." at the end of this list. Two such roles could be
Business Analyst A business analyst (BA) is a person who processes, interprets and documents business processes, products, services and software through analysis of data. The role of a business analyst is to ensure business efficiency increases through their know ...
and
Systems Analyst A systems analyst, also known as business technology analyst, is an information technology (IT) professional who specializes in analyzing, designing and implementing information systems. Systems analysts assess the suitability of information syst ...
.


TOGAF culture

TOGAF provides certifications for tools & people.


TOGAF certified tools

Certified TOGAF 9 tools are listed in the following table. For the latest register of certified tools refer The Open Group register.


Qualifications

The Open Group oversees formal qualifications in TOGAF at two levels, which can be taken following formal training or self-study. Learners can undertake these qualifications through training companies.


Foundation

(Level I) Ensures that an individual understands Enterprise Architecture along with core concepts and terminology of TOGAF.


Certified

(Level II) Further to the Foundation qualification, this establishes that the candidate is able to analyse and apply their knowledge to business problems. Gaining TOGAF Certified status automatically confers free membership of the Association of Enterprise Architects.


Criticism

Despite TOGAF being considered as the de facto standard in an EA practice, it is not without its critics: * Research evidence shows that "most TOGAF recommendations are usually found inapplicable" and not followed even in the organizations included in the list of TOGAF-users provided by The Open Group. That is why TOGAF can be considered only as "a toolkit of random EA-related recommendations" and "'using TOGAF' can be best explained as 'studying TOGAF and then doing something else instead'". * Real examples demonstrating the actual practical usage of TOGAF's recommendations are missing: "There is a pressing need for some detailed worked examples and use cases. Although these were requested, they were not forthcoming from TOGAF trainers or The Open Group".Anderson, P., Backhouse, G., Townsend, J., Hedges, M. and Hobson, P. (2009). ''Doing Enterprise Architecture: Enabling the Agile Institution''. Bristol, United Kingdom: Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). * EA practitioners report that TOGAF can hardly be followed step-by-step: "Our initial assumptions about TOGAF were that it would be a sort of 'methodology' that we could follow to produce our EA, however this turned out not to be the case". * Detailed analysis demonstrates that TOGAF-based EA practices do not resemble the original TOGAF prescriptions in any real sense. * TOGAF's prescriptions are vague and inarticulate since it "only states that the ADM should be adapted without specifying how". * Jason Bloomberg argues that "for many organizations, TOGAF has gained traction simply because it’s better than doing nothing". * The recent changes introduced in TOGAF v9.2 did not address the fundamental problems of the mechanistic planning approach advocated by TOGAF and other previous step-by-step architecture methodologies including EAP and BSP. * Historical analysis shows that TOGAF's astonishing popularity can be considered as purely accidental and attributed solely to its effective promotion at the right time period.Kotusev, S. (2018) TOGAF: Just the Next Fad That Turned into a New Religion, In: ''TOGAF Is Not an EA Framework: The Inconvenient Pragmatic Truth'', K.L. Smith (ed.). Great Notley, UK: Pragmatic EA Ltd, pp. 27-40.


References


External links

*
TOGAF 9.2 OnlineTOGAF 8.1.1 Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Open Group Architecture Framework, The Enterprise architecture frameworks Methodology Open Group standards