Introduction to TOGAF 9

 TOGAF is an architecture framework – The Open Group Architecture Framework. Put simply, TOGAF is the de facto global standard for assisting in the acceptance, production, use, and maintenance of architectures. Practical and proven, it is based on an iterative process model supported by best practices and a re-usable set of existing architectural assets.
TOGAF is developed and maintained by The Open Group Architecture Forum and its 350 members. The first version of TOGAF, developed in 1995, was based on the US Department of Defense Technical Architecture Framework for Information Management (TAFIM). Starting from this sound foundation, The Open Group Architecture Forum has developed successive versions of TOGAF at regular intervals and published each one on The Open Group public web site.
TOGAF 9 can be used for developing a broad range of different enterprise architectures. TOGAF complements, and can be used in conjunction with, other frameworks that are more focused on specific deliverables for particular vertical sectors such as Government, Telecommunications, Manufacturing, Defense, and Finance. The key to TOGAF is the method – the TOGAF Architecture Development Method (ADM) – for developing an enterprise architecture that addresses business needs.

 

What is Architecture in the Context of TOGAF?

 

ISO/IEC 42010:20071 defines “architecture” 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.”
TOGAF embraces and extends this definition. In TOGAF, “architecture” has two meanings depending upon the context:
1. A formal description of a system, or a detailed plan of the system at a component level to guide its implementation
2. The structure of components, their inter-relationships, and the principles and guidelines governing their design and evolution over time

 

What kinds of Architecture does TOGAF deal with?

 

TOGAF 9 covers the development of four related types of architecture. These four types of architecture are commonly accepted as subsets of an overall enterprise architecture, all of which TOGAF is designed to support. They are shown as following:

Business Architecture
The business strategy, governance, organization, and key business processes.
Data Architecture
The structure of an organization's logical and physical data assets and data management resources.
Application Architecture
A blueprint for the individual application systems to be deployed, their interactions, and their relationships to the core business processes of the organization.
Technology Architecture
The logical software and hardware capabilities that are required to support the deployment of business, data, and application services. This includes IT infrastructure, middleware, networks, communications, processing, and standards.
 

What does TOGAF Contain?

 

Architecture Development Method (ADM)
The ADM describes how to derive an organization-specific enterprise architecture that addresses business requirements. The ADM is the major component of TOGAF and provides guidance for architects on a number of levels:
• It provides a number of architecture development phases (Business Architecture, Information Systems Architectures, Technology Architecture) in a cycle, as an overall process template for

architecture development activity.
• It provides a narrative of each architecture phase, describing the phase in terms of objectives, approach, inputs, steps, and outputs. The inputs and outputs sections provide a definition of the architecture content structure and deliverables (a detailed description of the phase inputs and phase outputs is given in the Architecture Content Framework).
• It provides cross-phase summaries that cover requirements management.

ADM Guidelines and Techniques
ADM Guidelines and Techniques provides a number of guidelines and techniques to support the application of the ADM. The guidelines address adapting the ADM to deal with a number of usage scenarios, including different process styles (e.g., the use of iteration) and also specific specialty architectures (such as security). The techniques support specific tasks within the ADM (such as defining principles, business scenarios, gap analysis, migration planning, risk management, etc.).

Architecture Content Framework
The Architecture Content Framework provides a detailed model of architectural work products, including deliverables, artifacts within deliverables, and the Architecture Building Blocks (ABBs) that deliverables represent.

Enterprise Continuum

The Enterprise Continuum provides a model for structuring a virtual repository and provides methods for classifying architecture and solution artifacts, showing how the different types of artifacts evolve, and how they can be leveraged and re-used. This is based on architectures and solutions (models, patterns, architecture descriptions, etc.) that exist within the enterprise and in the industry at large, and which the enterprise has collected for use in the development of its architectures. 

TOGAF Reference Models
TOGAF provides two reference models for possible inclusion in an enterprise's own Enterprise Continuum, namely the Technical Reference Model (TRM) and the Integrated Information Infrastructure Model (III-RM).

Architecture Capability Framework
The Architecture Capability Framework is a set of resources, guidelines, templates, background information, etc. provided to help the architect establish an architecture practice within an organization.