TOGAF

TOGAF, short for The Open Group Architecture Framework, is an enterprise architecture framework and methodology developed by The Open Group. It provides a structured approach for designing, planning, implementing, and governing an enterprise information architecture. TOGAF is vendor-neutral and technology-agnostic, intended to help organizations align business strategy with IT architecture and to reduce complexity, risk, and costs.

The centerpiece is the Architecture Development Method (ADM), a cyclical process that guides the creation and management of architectures from vision through implementation. The ADM is supported by the Architecture Content Framework, which defines a meta-model of artifacts, and the Enterprise Continuum, a conceptual repository of architectures and patterns. The TOGAF Resource Base provides guidelines, techniques, reference models, and patterns to support architecture work. In later versions, the Architecture Capability Framework describes organizational capabilities needed to sustain architecture practice.

TOGAF defines four architecture domains: business, data, application, and technology. The ADM phases begin with Preliminary and Architecture Vision (Phases A and beyond: B Business, C Data and Applications, D Technology, E Opportunities and Solutions, F Migration Planning, G Implementation Governance, H Architecture Change Management). The framework emphasizes stakeholder engagement, architecture governance, an artifact catalog, and an Architecture Repository that stores models and deliverables.

TOGAF originated in the 1990s as an evolution of earlier best practices and has since undergone several revisions, including TOGAF 9.x and TOGAF 10. It is complemented by an associated certification program for practitioners and architecture teams. Organizations use TOGAF to standardize processes, improve interoperability, and support strategic decision making across business and IT domains.