TOGAF® is not the first enterprise architectural framework, and it is unlikely to be the last in a long succession of business architecture frameworks. However, it is one that has persisted for over two decades and is used all around the globe, which is an incredible achievement in today’s technological scene.
It was created by The Open Group, a not-for-profit technology industry group that continues to update and repeat the TOGAF. TOGAF is an abbreviation for The Open Group Architecture Framework. This post will concentrate on acquainting newcomers with the TOGAF framework.
The importance of understanding enterprise architecture
In a recent post, we took a deep dive into business architectural frameworks and discussed them in detail. Enterprise architecture is a term that refers to a comprehensive approach to software and other technologies that is used across a whole firm or enterprise.
Most of the time, enterprise architecture is more than simply a framework for arranging various types of internal infrastructures. As opposed to this, the purpose is to give genuine answers to business demands via the analysis, design, planning, and implementation of the appropriate technology in the appropriate methods.
Enterprise architecture is increasingly being expanded to include extra business requirements, such as:
- Management of business processes
- Data mining and analysis
In this case, the purpose of a well-organized enterprise architecture is to enable the effective execution of corporate strategy while ensuring efficiency, efficacy, agility, and security. All of this seems hard – creating and executing a clear, long-term solution to all enterprise software in a manner that meets the demands of the organization – and that’s because it can be complicated. In order to address this, enterprise architectural frameworks (EAFs) began to emerge, both informal and officially, as far back as five decades ago.
History and information about the TOGAF
Enterprise architecture, as a subset of computer architecture, has been around since the mid-1960s as a distinct topic. IBM, along with other firms and institutions, pioneered certain explicit approaches to enterprise architecture development, cognizant of the fact that all of the elements required to function on a network are complex.
After then, the technology only grew more complicated: nowadays, almost all businesses of any size or product use the internet to make their business operations simpler, faster, and in some cases more transparent; this is true regardless of their size or product. To make sense of the many hardware and software alternatives available, both on-premise and in the cloud, as well as to assure data security while exchanging information across different platforms, enterprise architecture is now a required activity.
The first version of the TOGAF Certification was created in 1995. By that time, it was standard practice in the area of enterprise architecture for subsequent versions or models to include enhanced iterations and theories. To a similar extent, TOGAF drew influence from the Department of Defence’s own Enterprise Architecture Framework (EAF), known as the Technical Architecture Framework for Information Management (TAFIM). It is interesting to note that the USDoD discontinued the use of the TAFIM within a few of years following the introduction of TOGAF. Despite this, TOGAF deployment and success are still being celebrated across the globe, more than two decades after its inception.
TOGAF 9.2 has been released by the Sprintzeal Open Group, which is the most recent version. To further ensure that tools and courses conform to TOGAF requirements, the Open Group certifies them as well. Currently, eight tools and 71 courses have been produced by a variety of organizations and are formally approved by the Open Group.
Model for the Development of Architecture (ADM)
Performance engineering is used in this iterative cycle to create a real-world corporate architecture from the ground up. It is important to note that it may be tailored to meet the specific demands of the organization, rather than being a one-size-fits-all solution. Once an architecture has been built, the organization may roll it out to all teams or departments in iterative cycles, ensuring that mistakes are kept to a bare minimum and assisting the firm in communicating more effectively.
