Studying TOGAF
During most of 2009 a group of cllegues from Logica studied theThe Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF). The main reason for thiswas to gain more knowledge of TOGAF, but many of them also wanted toget ready for TOGAF certification. Together with two collegues I wasthe manager of the process.Studying the TOGAF book was no easy task. The book contains 778 pageswith a high information density. It is no easy read. We agreed to studyTOGAF book chapter-by-chapter from cover to cover. In 10 eveningsessions we would discuss any unclarities and questions we had on thematerial. In the process we learned a few lessons I want to share withyou:
- It is not practical to read the book cover to cover. In the early chapters terminology is used that is explained much later in the book.
- The best way is to start reading part III (ADM Guidelines and Techniques) and part IV (Architecture Content Framework) and then read the actual ADM phases (part II).
- The book (or the online version of TOGAF for that matter) is not perfect, it contains some errors and creates some confusion of terminology. For instance: what exactly is a "building block" according to TOGAF? I took us hours of discussion to reach a consensus (which I verified with one of the authors of TOGAF when I visited the Open Group): a building block is everything. The same unclarity we had on the term "Enterprise Continuum" (read chapter 39 in the book). The same goes for the difference between artifacts and deliverables.
- Not all parts of TOGAF are of equal maturity. The ADM is quite extensive (although most details are in the technical architecture part), but for instance the chapters on security architecture, SOA and architecture maturity models are very thin
Apart from the points above (and some extra issues I forgot) TOGAF isstill a very rich source of Enterprise Architecture information,containing many insights, checklists and models that can be used inpractice.
It just needs a little bit more maturing.
This entry was posted on Sunday 25 April 2010