Frequently Asked Questions about TOGAF

http://blog.firebrandtraining.co.uk/2014/01/faq-togaf.html

What is TOGAF?

TOGAF is a proven enterprise architecture methodology and framework used by the world's leading organisations to improve business efficiency. It’s the most prominent and reliable enterprise architecture standard, ensuring consistent standards, methods, and communication among enterprise architecture professionals.

What is an architecture?

By definition, an architecture is “the fundamental organisation 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 does not strictly adhere to this definition. Depending upon its contextual usage architecture has two meanings in TOGAF:

• A formal description of a system, or a detailed plan of the system at component level to guide its implementation.

• The structure of components, their interrelationships, and the principles and guidelines governing their design and evolution over time.

Why do I need an IT architecture?

The primary reason for developing an architecture is that it provides the technical foundation for an effective IT strategy, which is the core of any successful modern business strategy.

Today’s executives know that the effective management and exploitation of information through IT is the key to business success, and the indispensable means to achieving competitive advantage. An IT architecture addresses this need, by providing a strategic context for the evolution of the IT system in response to the constantly changing needs of the business environment.

Furthermore, a good IT architecture enables you to achieve the right balance between IT efficiency and business innovation. It allows individual business units to innovate safely in their pursuit of competitive advantage. At the same time, it assures the needs of the organisation for an integrated IT strategy, permitting the closest possible synergy across the extended enterprise.

Why do I need a “Framework” for IT architecture?

Using an architectural framework will speed up and simplify architecture development, ensure more complete coverage of the designed solution, and make certain that the architecture selected allows for future growth in response to the needs of the business.

TOGAF plays an important role in helping to ease the architecture development process, enabling IT users to build genuinely open systems-based solutions to their business needs.

Who would benefit from using TOGAF?

Any organisation undertaking, or planning to undertake, the implementation of an enterprise-wide technical infrastructure for the support of mission-critical business applications, using open systems building blocks.

Customers who design and implement corporate architectures using TOGAF are ensured of a design and a procurement specification that will greatly facilitate open systems implementation, and will enable the benefits of open systems to accrue to their organisations with reduced risk.

What will my TOGAF credentials give me?

Enterprise architecture professionals fluent in TOGAF standards enjoy greater industry credibility, job effectiveness, and career opportunities. TOGAF helps practitioners avoid being locked into proprietary methods, utilise resources more efficiently and effectively, and realise a greater return on investment.

If you haven’t found the answer to your question, visit TheOpen Group’s FAQ site.