Clarity On TOGAF Process

General Questions/Discussions
1

I have been looking through your videos, tools, etc…

I have a few questions for clarity so that I know the right way to think through using TOGAF as a framework. Any input/help would be appreciated.

  • Once you go through the 10 phases one time it seems that a few of the phases are re-usable. For instance governance and approval from the EA team/board would not change with a new architecture request. What exactly would you re-visit and what would you not need to when going through each new iteration of the ADM cycle?

  • I saw your flowchart of how PMBOK might work with TOGAF. This would mean that Togaf is the centralized tool instead of PMBOK and at some point it would be sent to the PMBOK process once the architecture was done. How do most people work this handoff? I have seen a lot of organizations be in the middle of a project and they make an architecture request as a side note that they could add to the project collateral. It seems as if TOGAF changes this mindset and comes first before the project ever kicks off. Any input on this?

These will help frame a few other thoughts/questions I am having.

2

Hi Wellis,

Thank you for your post. The intent of enterprise architecture (no matter you use TOGAF or other frameworks) is to determine how an organization can achieve its vision effectively. Throughout the TOGAF ADM cycle, the current state of the organization will be studied and the changes required to bring the organization to the desired state are discovered. This forms the basis of project initiatives in realizing the changes. Although TOGAF hasn’t mentioned how ADM can be interfaced with project management methods/guidelines, it’s common that when gaps are found, architecture requirements are identified and work packages are defined, projects will be launched to support the changes. Waterfall, agile, PMBOK and PRINCE2 are typical approaches to project management.

Best regards,
Jick Yeung