The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) is a framework and detailed method for building, maintaining, and gaining value from an enterprise architecture for an organization. TOGAF 9 is the latest version of the framework, and its accompanying Architecture Development Method (ADM).
The TOGAF specification is an open standard that has been created and is maintained by The Open Group:
TOGAF makes a distinction between the types of architectures that you can build. According to TOGAF, there are four types of architectures that are commonly accepted as subsets of the overall enterprise architecture:
▪Business Architecture: Addresses the needs of users, planners, and business management,
▪Data/Information Architecture: Addresses the needs of database designers, database administrators, and system engineers,
▪Application (Systems) Architecture: Addresses the needs of system and software engineers, and
▪Information Technology (IT) Architecture: Addresses the needs of acquirers, operators, administrators, and managers.
TOGAF 9 supports all of these architectures to enable you to create an enterprise architecture.
The parts of TOGAF
There are three main parts of TOGAF:
1 The TOGAF Architecture Development Method (ADM): Provides a step-by-step method for building an Enterprise Architecture that addresses business requirements. In following the TOGAF ADM, you can use industry-standard diagrams and notations to build models, such as UML, business modeling diagrams (organization charts, functional hierarchy diagrams, business process diagrams, and so on), relational data modeling, and so forth.
2 The Enterprise Continuum: A “framework-within-a-framework” that provides context for the leveraging of relevant architecture assets and provides navigational help when discussions move between different levels of abstraction.
3 The TOGAF Resource Base: A set of resources, such as guidelines, templates, checklists, and other detailed materials, which support the TOGAF Architecture Development Method. The resource base is available on The Open Group website:
The TOGAF framework provides the core phases of the Architecture Development Method (ADM), presented as circles surrounding requirements. Bidirectional lines are drawn from each of the outer ADM circles to the center Requirements circle. This represents how requirements drive the creation of the architecture, and how the architecture is created to satisfy requirements.
The extended TOGAF framework shows the Technology Architecture circle expanded to show its details. The Technology Architecture phase consists of eight detailed steps.
