BPM Library

The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) is a framework for Enterprise Architecture which provides a comprehensive approach to the design, planning, implementation, and governance of an enterprise information architecture.

The architecture is typically modeled at four levels or domains:
- Business
- Application
- Data
- Technology

Enterprise Architecture Domains TOGAF is based on four pillars, four architecture domains:
1. Business (or business process) architecture which defines the business strategy, governance, organization, and key business processes of the organization
2. Applications architecture which provides a blueprint for the individual application systems to be deployed, the interactions between the application systems, and their relationships to the core business processes of the organization
3. Data architecture which describes the structure of an organization's logical and physical data assets and the associated data management resources
4. Technical architecture or Technology architecture which describes the hardware, software and network infrastructure needed to support the deployment of core, mission-critical applications

Architecture Development Cycle


The process is iterative and cyclic. Each step checks with Requirements. Phase C involves some combination of both Data Architecture and Applications Architecture.
Additional clarity can be added between steps B. and C. in order to provide a complete Information Architecture.


Key Phases/Steps of ADM at which Building Blocks are Evolved/Specified

TOGAF describes business architecture as follows:
“the business strategy, governance, organization, and key business processes”.

A Business Architecture describes the structural aspects of the business domain instead of the IT domain.

TOGAF dimensions:
- Scope (breadth of the enterprise or across a specific business function from end-to-end)
- Level of detail
- Time (as-is architecture vs. to-be architecture)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOGAF