How to Use the New TOGAF Version 10

TOGAF 10 was recently released and is now available. We take a step back and take a practitioner’s view of doing Enterprise Architecture work in an organization. However, this article differentiates between different TOGAF 10 audiences, and use cases, and considers that there are already ongoing Enterprise Architecture activities within the organization.

This article helps to understand how to use the brand-new release.

One of the major improvements of TOGAF 10 has been the new modular structure. The TOGAF Standard now consists of separate documents with a topic-centered structure. In addition, topics are ordered by their importance and stability over time. This means that fundamental Enterprise Architecture topics, such as the ADM, are located in the very center, the fundamentals part of TOGAF.

Best practices, in contrast, are located in the TOGAF series guides, which now have become an official part of the Standard as well.

Finally, emerging, and more volatile ideas are described by various publications and documentation that are stored in The Open Group Library. These include pocket guides, white papers, guides, datasheets, reference cards, and other useful documents.

TOGAF 10 has a Modular Structure

The new structure is important because most organizations already have running Enterprise Architecture activities. Differently grown organizations require different architectures, processes, and governance. Using the old TOGAF version, organizations always had to cut out bits and pieces that complement their already existing processes and artifacts.

The modular structure of TOGAF 10 makes this much easier. The Open Group calls this “topic support”.

Besides an established Enterprise Architecture practice, there are other reasons why a practitioner might not want to adapt to the full TOGAF Standard but instead customize it.

What EA model is Right for my Organization?

The EA requirements of companies can be very individual. They depend on general parameters, such as

  • Company size
  • Industry
  • Security requirements
  • Compliance requirements

They also depend on the business model and competitive advantage parameters, such as

  • Customer frontends
  • Data integration
  • Data monetization strategy
  • Product lifecycles
  • Release cycles

Finally, they also depend on governance and operation model decisions, such as

  • Agility levels
  • Decision-making authorities

Who Applies Enterprise Architecture, Who Uses TOGAF 10?

Besides the parameters above, the role and the use case that an architect works on are important to decide whether and how to use the Standard.

For instance, The Open Group mentions four roles for which TOGAF 10 is relevant. These are EA practitioners, EA consultants, EA tool vendors, and EA trainers.

While each of those different roles would use the TOGAF 10 Standard differently, we today focus on the subgroups of the Enterprise Architect Practitioner. This role can be further broken down into roles that require solutions for their strategic, portfolio, project, or solution architecture work. Each of them requires different frameworks, best practices, and EA use cases.

Luckily, EA supports a wide variety of use cases. These include Digitalization, realizing cost savings, simplifying, and harmonizing IT landscapes, and increasing reliability and resilience.

The Modular Structure of TOGAF 10 Allows for Different Practitioners to Find What They Need

Older TOGAF versions had a rather monolithic structure. If you wanted to apply for the ADM, you had to read half of the very lengthy TOGAF Standard.

With version 10, the transformation towards a modular approach to the content was finalized. The Open Group now provides material for specific purposes. This helps Enterprise Architecture practitioners to find what they need. What is that content?

TOGAF 10 Fundamental Content

The following documents are part of the TOGAF Standard fundamental content:

  1. Introduction and Core Concepts (88 pages)
  2. Architecture Development Method (ADM) (154 pages)
  3. ADM Techniques (88 pages)
  4. Applying the ADM (36 pages)
  5. Architecture Content (120 pages)
  6. Enterprise Architecture Capability and Governance (64 pages)

What are the TOGAF Series Guides?

Besides the fundamental content, the TOGAF series guides offer topic-focused, modular best practices for applying Enterprise Architecture. As of May 2022, TOGAF 10 contains 23 TOGAF series guides in The Open Group Library. Those are:

  1. Value Streams
  2. Using the TOGAF Standard in the Digital Enterprise
  3. TOGAF Digital Business Reference Model (DBRM)
  4. The TOGAF Technical Reference Model (TRM)
  5. The TOGAF Integrated Information Infrastructure Reference Model (III-RM): An Architected Approach to Boundaryless Information Flow
  6. Organization Mapping
  7. Microservices Architecture (MSA)
  8. Information Mapping
  9. Government Reference Model (GRM)
  10. Enabling Enterprise Agility
  11. Digital Technology Adoption: A Guide to Readiness Assessment and Roadmap Development
  12. Business Scenarios
  13. Business Models
  14. Business Capabilities (Version 1 & 2)
  15. Architecture Skills Framework
  16. Architecture Maturity Models
  17. Applying the TOGAF ADM using Agile Sprints
  18. A Practitioners´ Approach to Developing Enterprise Architecture Following the TOGAF ADM
  19. Business Architecture
  20. Using the TOGAF Framework to Define and Govern Service-Oriented Architectures
  21. The TOGAF Leader´s Guide to Establishing and Evolving an EA Capability
  22. Information Architecture: Customer Master Data Management (C-MDM)
  23. Architecture Project Management

Examples of How to Use TOGAF 10

Let us consider a few situations in which someone might want to use TOGAF 10. What should he or she do?

As a Beginner in the Area of Enterprise Architecture, I Want to Understand the Basics, so that I can Quickly Create Value For my Organization

A beginner wants to understand the fundamentals and does not want to be overwhelmed with lots of information and the newest developments.

A beginner would therefore consider the fundamentals content of TOGAF. In particular, he or she would start by reading the Introduction and Core Concepts. After reading through those first 88 pages, he or she would then either proceed with the remaining fundamentals content or advance to a particular best practice guide that fits his or her current challenges.

As Cloud Architect on a running project, I want to Understand TOGAF´s Point of View on Cloud Architecture in a Timely and Efficient Manner

A cloud architect would probably be already familiar with the fundamentals of TOGAF. Instead of going through the full documentation, he or she would be interested in specific topics around cloud. Scanning through the series guides, the following would catch his or her attention:

  1. The TOGAF Integrated Information Infrastructure Reference Model (III-RM): An Architected Approach to Boundaryless Information Flow
  2. Microservices Architecture (MSA)
  3. Using the TOGAF Framework to Define and Govern Service-Oriented Architectures

As a Product Owner, I want to Understand the Concept and Approach of Business Capabilities That my Development Teams Applies So That we Can better Align

The described Product Owner would want to understand a particular concept described by TOGAF. The new topic structure allows him or her to directly download the guide to Business Capabilities and start reading.

As you can observe, different roles require different content from the new TOGAF 10 Standard. The modular structure makes it easy for different roles to focus on TOGAF 10 content that is worth reading for them!

Join the Conversation

1 Comment

Leave a comment

Leave a Reply to Ashish Tandon Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Pin It on Pinterest