Explore the Benefits of TOGAF Standard 10th Edition

Getting Started with TOGAF Standard, 10th Edition

The 10th edition is designed for action.

Getting Started as an Enterprise Architect

High-functioning enterprise architect practitioners are always looking out for ways to improve their craft. The stable best practice guides provide a mixture of broadly applicable guidance and specialized guidance. Different guides directly apply to every enterprise architect practitioner.

A good first step is to get a copy of the TOGAF Series Guide a Practitioners’ Approach to Developing Enterprise Architecture Following the TOGAF ADM. Chapter 3 and Chapter 6 set the stage for applying everything in the TOGAF Standard, other TOGAF Series Guides, and TOGAF library.

Read the Integrating Risk & Security guide. Risk and security are central to every enterprise architect practitioner. Every EA Practitioner has an accountability to improve the performance of their organization. Practitioners are accountable for reducing the uncertainty of your organization, reaching its objectives and improving its security.

Get a copy of each guide that applies to your work. The guides apply because of the problem they help with, or the domain they help with. If your organization has digital initiatives, then get the Digital guides. If you need to enable agile development, then get the agile guides. If you are a business architect, then get the business architecture guides. If you are a data architect, then the master data management guide may be helpful.

Explore the TOGAF Library. You will find documents that directly help you do your job or show you an effective approach. Both hone you as an enterprise architect.

Look for updates on the TOGAF Certification Program and the Open Group Badge Programs. The updated and improved TOGAF Certification Program is all about effectively delivering useful enterprise architecture. Either by application of the essential scaffolding, or by point education on problems and domains.

Getting Started as a Leader of an Enterprise Architecture Team

Leaders have the challenge of optimizing their EA Capability and developing their practitioners. Your organization’s need for useful enterprise architecture is constantly evolving. You need to continually improve your EA team.

Download a copy of the TOGAF Series Guide - The TOGAF Leader’s Guide to Establishing and Evolving an EA Capability. Ensure that you have clarity on the purpose of your EA Team (Section 3.3), and the boundary of your enterprise (section 4.1 & 4.2).

Identify any gaps in your ability to deliver the enterprise architecture your organization wants to consume. Start filling them. You will likely find the Integrating Risk & Security guide and Using TOGAF in the Digital Enterprise guide useful. High functioning EA Teams always reduce the uncertainty of our organization reaching its objectives and improving its security. If your organization is not on a digital transformation journey, then you should expect it to start soon.

The third step is to get a copy of each guide that applies to your team. Become familiar and distribute them to your team. Require them to leverage applicable best practice. If your EA Team is re-inventing readily available practices, then they are spending time in the wrong place. Your organization wants useful enterprise architecture.

Look at the TOGAF Certification for Leaders. It is based on the TOGAF Series Guide - The TOGAF Leader’s Guide to Establishing and Evolving an EA Capability and optimized to the problem of designing the optimal EA Team for your enterprise.

Updates on the TOGAF Certification Program and the Credentials, programs, and specialized training apply to your EA Team. You are responsible for your EA team’s professional development. Leverage established training and accreditation programs.

Getting Started as a Sponsor of an Enterprise Architecture Team

Sponsors know they can improve their organization’s ability to make better change decisions and execute the changes in enterprise architecture. They will have promoted their EA Team to help their organization. Most sponsors have the additional challenge of not being enterprise architect practitioners or EA Team leads. Most want the outcome without understanding the detail of how the work is done.

Read the Leader’s Guide. You should provide clarity on the purpose of your EA Team (Section 3.3 & 8.2), the boundary of your enterprise (section 4.1 & 4.2), and how success will be measured (section 5.4). Further, you need to assist with the improvement of your governance structure (Chapter 6).

Work with the Leader of your EA Team to identify gaps in delivery of the enterprise architecture your organization wants to consume, and how to improve the team.

Look for updates on the TOGAF Certification Program and TOGAF Credential programs, and specialized training. You are accountable for your EA team’s professional development. Leverage established training and accreditation programs.

Getting Started as an Enterprise Architecture Customer

Stakeholders, implementers, and other consumers of enterprise architecture have a different next step. You will look at the enterprise architecture you are receiving and compare it with the architecture you will be receiving. Work with the Leader & Sponsor of your EA Capability to define their business objectives. Section 5 of the Leader’s Guide should help you communicate with them.

Raise your expectations. Best practice enterprise architecture is transformative. Stakeholders gain confidence in the best path for their organization by developing a good enterprise architecture..