TOGAF
Encyclopedia
Enterprise architecture
An enterprise architecture is a rigorous description of the structure of an enterprise, which comprises enterprise components , the externally visible properties of those components, and the relationships between them...
which provides a comprehensive approach for designing, planning, implementation, and governance of an enterprise information architecture
Information Architecture
Information architecture is the art of expressing a model or concept of information used in activities that require explicit details of complex systems. Among these activities are library systems, Content Management Systems, web development, user interactions, database development, programming,...
. TOGAF is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other countries.
TOGAF is a high level and holistic approach to design, which is typically modeled at four levels: Business, Application, Data, and Technology. It tries to give a well-tested overall starting model to information architects, which can then be built upon. It relies heavily on modularization, standardization and already existing, proven technologies and products.
Overview
An architecture frameworkArchitecture framework
An enterprise architecture framework is a framework for an enterprise architecture which defines how to organize the structure and views associated with an enterprise architecture.- Overview :...
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
TOGAF is such an architecture framework.
The ANSI
Ansi
Ansi is a village in Kaarma Parish, Saare County, on the island of Saaremaa, Estonia....
/IEEE Standard 1471-2000
IEEE 1471
IEEE 1471 is an IEEE Standard for describing the architecture of a software-intensive system, also known as software architecture.- Overview :...
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."
History
The Open Group
The Open Group is a vendor and technology-neutral industry consortium, currently with over three hundred member organizations. It was formed in 1996 when X/Open merged with the Open Software Foundation...
and continuously evolved since the mid-1990s. In 1995 the first version of TOGAF Version was presented, which was "based on the Technical Architecture Framework for Information Management (TAFIM). The US Department of Defense gave The Open Group explicit permission and encouragement to create TOGAF by building on the TAFIM, which itself was the result of many years of development effort and many millions of dollars of US Government investment".
TOGAF 7 ("Technical Edition") was published in December 2001, TOGAF 8 ("Enterprise Edition") was first published in December 2002 and republished in updated form as TOGAF 8.1 in December 2003, which was updated in November 2006 as TOGAF 8.1.1.
According to The Open Group as of February 2011 there are over 15,000 TOGAF Certified individuals .
The latest version is TOGAF 9, launched on 2 February 2009. An evolutionary development from TOGAF 8, TOGAF 9 includes many new features including
- Increased rigor including a formal Content Metamodel that links the artifacts of TOGAF together
- Elimination of unnecessary differences
- Many more examples and templates.
Additional guidelines and techniques include
- A formal business-driven approach to architecture scoping and segmentation
- Business capability-based planning
- Guidance on how to use TOGAF to develop Security Architectures and SOAs
The Open Group
The Open Group
The Open Group is a vendor and technology-neutral industry consortium, currently with over three hundred member organizations. It was formed in 1996 when X/Open merged with the Open Software Foundation...
provides TOGAF free of charge to organizations for their own internal noncommercial purposes.
Enterprise architecture domains
TOGAF is based on four pillars, called architecture domainArchitecture 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...
s:
- Business architectureBusiness architectureA business architecture is a part of an enterprise architecture related to corporate business, and the documents and diagrams that describe that architectural structure of business...
or business process architecture which defines the business strategy, governance, organization, and key business processes of the organization - Applications architectureApplications architectureAn applications architecture describes the structure and behaviour of applications used in a business, focused on how they interact with each other and with users. It is focused on the data consumed and produced by applications rather than their internal structure...
which provides a blueprint for the individual application 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. - Data architectureData architectureData Architecture in enterprise architecture is the design of data for use in defining the target state and the subsequent planning needed to achieve the target state...
which describes the structure of an organization's logical and physical data assets and the associated data management resources - Technical architectureTechnical architectureTechnical architecture is one of several architecture domains that form the pillars of an enterprise architecture or solution architecture. It describes the structure and behaviour of the technology infrastructure of an enterprise, solution or system...
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
Information architecture is the art of expressing a model or concept of information used in activities that require explicit details of complex systems. Among these activities are library systems, Content Management Systems, web development, user interactions, database development, programming,...
.
Performance engineering
Performance Engineering
Performance engineering within systems engineering, encompasses the set of roles, skills, activities, practices, tools, and deliverables applied at every phase of the Systems Development Life Cycle which ensures that a solution will be designed, implemented, and operationally supported to meet the...
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 may be viewed as a "virtual repository" (as of TOGAF 9 this is not virtual any more) of all the architecture assets available to an organization. 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 system(s) available to the enterprise. The Solutions Continuum describes the implementation of the Architecture Continuum by defining reusable solutions building blocks.
TOGAF Certified Tools
The Open Group has a certification program for TOGAF 8 Tools, and as of early 2011 plans to extend that to cover TOGAF 9 Tools.For the latest register of certified tools see The Open Group register .
Alternative enterprise architecture frameworks
- AGATEAGATE (architecture framework)AGATE is a framework for modeling computer or communication systems architecture....
French Délégation Générale pour l'Armement Atelier de Gestion de l'ArchiTEcture des systèmes d'information et de communication. - ArchiMateArchiMateArchiMate [Ahr-ki-meyt] is an open and independent enterprise architecture modelling language to support the description, analysis and visualization of architecture within and across business domains in an unambiguous way....
an open and independent modelling language for enterprise architecture - ARCONArçonArçon is a commune in the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France.-Population:-References:*...
- A Reference Architecture for Collaborative Networks - not focused on a single enterprise but rather on networks of enterprises - DoDAF United States Department of Defense Architectural Framework.
- CSC Catalyst CSC Catalyst
- DYA framework Sogeti Framework.
- EIFEuropean Interoperability FrameworkThe European Interoperability Framework is a set of recommendations which specify how Administrations, Businesses and Citizens communicate with each other within the EU and across Member States borders....
European Interoperability Framework - Enterprise architecture at the level of EUEuropean UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
Member StatesMember State of the European UnionA member state of the European Union is a state that is party to treaties of the European Union and has thereby undertaken the privileges and obligations that EU membership entails. Unlike membership of an international organisation, being an EU member state places a country under binding laws in... - IDABC Interoperable Delivery (of European egovernment services to public) Administrations, Business and Citizens
- Integrated Architecture FrameworkIntegrated Architecture FrameworkIntegrated Architecture Framework is an enterprise architecture framework that covers business, information, information system and technology infrastructure....
(IAF) created by CapgeminiCapgeminiCapgemini is a French global IT services company, one of the world's largest management consulting, outsourcing and professional services companies with a staff of 114,274 operating in 40 countries. It is headquartered in Paris and was founded in 1967 by Serge Kampf, the current chairman, in...
. - FEAFEAFea was the smallest unit of land a fief could own under the feudal system.-Acronyms and abbreviations:FEA is an acronym or abbreviation for:...
United States Office of Management and Budget Federal Enterprise Architecture. - MIKE2.0 (Method for an Integrated Knowledge Environment)MIKE2.0 MethodologyMIKE2.0 is an open source delivery methodology for Enterprise information management. MIKE2.0 was released to the public in December, 2006, by BearingPoint, a management and technology consulting company, under the Creative Commons Attribution License...
which includes an enterprise architecture framework called SAFE (Strategic Architecture for the Federated Enterprise) - MODAFMODAFThe British Ministry of Defence Architecture Framework is an Architecture Framework which defines a standardised way of conducting Enterprise Architecture, originally developed by the UK Ministry of Defence....
United Kingdom Ministry of Defence Architectural Framework. - Model-driven architectureModel-driven architectureModel-driven architecture is a software design approach for the development of software systems. It provides a set of guidelines for the structuring of specifications, which are expressed as models. Model-driven architecture is a kind of domain engineering, and supports model-driven engineering of...
(MDA) Object Management Group's Model Driven Architecture. - OBASHIOBASHIThe OBASHI® methodology provides a framework and method for capturing, illustrating and modeling the relationships, dependencies and dataflows between business and Information technology assets and resources in a business context....
(The OBASHI Business & IT methodology and framework. - PROMIS Framework The PROMIS Enterprise Architecture Framework integrated into the EA tool EVA Netmodeler
- SABSA a comprehensive framework for Enterprise Security Architecture and Service Management.
- SAP Enterprise Architecture FrameworkSAP Enterprise Architecture FrameworkThe SAP Enterprise Architecture Framework is a methodology and toolset primarily to support the effective adoption of SOA. It is based on The Open Group Architecture Framework and specifically designed to support packaged solutions and Service-oriented architecture .The TOGAF Architecture...
is extension of TOGAF to better support Commercial off-the-shelfCommercial off-the-shelfIn the United States, Commercially available Off-The-Shelf is a Federal Acquisition Regulation term defining a nondevelopmental item of supply that is both commercial and sold in substantial quantities in the commercial marketplace, and that can be procured or utilized under government contract...
and Service-Oriented ArchitectureService-oriented architectureIn software engineering, a Service-Oriented Architecture is a set of principles and methodologies for designing and developing software in the form of interoperable services. These services are well-defined business functionalities that are built as software components that can be reused for... - Zachman FrameworkZachman frameworkThe Zachman Framework is an Enterprise Architecture framework for enterprise architecture, which provides a formal and highly structured way of viewing and defining an enterprise...
IBM Framework from the 1980s.
External links
- TOGAF 9 Online
- TOGAF 8.1.1 Online
- IBM developerWorks: Understand The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) and IT architecture in today's world (February 2006)
- Developer.com: TOGAF: Establishing Itself As the Definitive Method for Building Enterprise Architectures in the Commercial World (June 2004)
- TOGAF or not TOGAF: Extending Enterprise Architecture beyond RUP (January 2007)
- Practical advice: How to bring TOGAF to life (October 2007)