TOGAF:Structure and content of an Architecture Capability within an enterprise

The TOGAF standard is developed and maintained by members of The Open Group, working within the Architecture Forum (refer to www.opengroup.org/architecture-forum). The original development of TOGAF Version 1 in 1995 was based on the Technical Architecture Framework for Information Management (TAFIM), developed by the US Department of Defense (DoD). The DoD gave The Open Group explicit permission and encouragement to create Version 1 of the TOGAF standard by building on the TAFIM, which itself was the result of many years of development effort and many millions of dollars of US Government investment.

Starting from this sound foundation, the members of The Open Group Architecture Forum have developed successive versions of the TOGAF standard and published each one on The Open Group public website.

This version builds on previous versions of the TOGAF standard and updates the material available to architecture practitioners to assist them in building a sustainable Enterprise Architecture. Work on White Papers and Guides describing how to to integrate and use this standard with other frameworks and architectural styles has highlighted the universal framework parts of the standard, as well as industry, architecture style, and purpose-specific tools, techniques, and guidance. This work is embodied in the TOGAF Library.1

Although all of the TOGAF documentation works together as a whole, it is expected that organizations will customize it during adoption, and deliberately choose some elements, customize some, exclude some, and create others. For example, an organization may wish to adopt the TOGAF metamodel, but elect not to use any of the guidance on how to develop an in-house Technology Architecture because they are heavy consumers of cloud and Open Platform 3.0™.

Regardless of your prior experience, you are recommended to read the Executive Overview (see 1.3 Executive Overview), where you will find an outline of The Open Group understanding of Enterprise Architecture and answers to fundamental questions, such as:

Why is an Enterprise Architecture needed?
Why use the TOGAF standard as a framework for Enterprise Architecture?