I’m at the Open Group’s 21st EA Practitioner Conference in San Diego where the big news is this morning’s release of TOGAF 9. TOGAF, as most know, is the Open Group’s Architecture Framework:
“TOGAF provides the methods and tools for assisting in the acceptance, production, use and maintenance of an enterprise architecture. It is based on an iterative process model supported by best practices and a re-usable set of existing architecture assets.”
TOGAF 9 is comprised of seven parts: introduction, the architecture development method (ADM), ADM guidelines and techniques, architecture content framework, architectural reference models and an architectural capability framework.
The major changes from TOGAF 8.1.1 are:
1. TOGAF now has a modular structure. This allows organizations to review, understand and adopt portions of TOGAF as applicable to their business situation. This allows for incremental adoption or even selective adoption in concert with other architecture frameworks.
2. The new content framework provides a structural model for major architectural work products produced during the ADM. Work products are defined as deliverables, artifacts and building blocks. An illustration of the content metamodel follows.
3. Guidance for providing a holistic, integrated enterprise architectural view and practice as TOGAF is used in multiple architectural projects, at different levels, within the enterprise. This guidance includes partitioning strategies, an architecture repository and a enterprise architecture capability framework. An illustration of the capability framework follows.
4. New ADM guidelines and techniques to address security architecture concerns and to establish linkages with SOA.
I’ve only scratched the surface of the near 800-page document, but my first impressions are positive. I’m particularly pleased with the modularity and the content framework. I’m all for good, practitioner-generated, content presented in an accessible manner for others to sample and apply to their particular situations.
As I delve deeper into TOGAF 9, I’ll share more specific insights. I encourage you to do the same. The document is available for download here. There is also an introductory whitepaper.
[Disclosure: The Open Group is not a client of my company, Elemental Links. However, The Open Group is covering my stay here in sunny and warm San Diego.]
