Frequently Asked Questions About TOGAF® (FAQ)
Lyndsay Collins
18 May, 2023
What is TOGAF®?
The Open Group is globally renowned for their innovative standards around the use of open-source software.
Achieving a TOGAF® certification has proven essential for businesses to remain current in open-source standards. TOGAF® is now used by 80% of Global companies, including Phillips, Fujitsu, and IBM – asserting their authority as a trusted source of education.
The TOGAF® certification portfolio encompasses learning paths and certifications for Bodies of Knowledge based on both the TOGAF® Standard, Version 9.2 and the TOGAF® Standard, 10th Edition.
New learning paths introduced to support the TOGAF® Standard, 10th Edition include direct paths from TOGAF® 9 Foundation and upwards, and recognition of TOGAF® 9 certification with the bridge path.
What is an architecture?
By definition, an architecture is “the fundamental organisation of a system, embodied in its components, their relationships to each other and the environment, and the principles governing its design and evolution”.
However, TOGAF® does not strictly adhere to this definition. Depending upon its contextual usage architecture has two meanings in TOGAF®:
- A formal description of a system, or a detailed plan of the system at component level to guide its implementation
- The structure of components, their interrelationships, and the principles and guidelines governing their design and evolution over time
Why do I need an IT architecture?
The primary reason for developing an architecture is that it provides the technical foundation for an effective IT strategy, which is the core of any successful modern business strategy.
Today’s executives know that the effective management and exploitation of information through IT is the key to business success, and the indispensable means to achieving competitive advantage. An IT architecture addresses this need, by providing a strategic context for the evolution of the IT system in response to the constantly changing needs of the business environment.
Furthermore, a good IT architecture enables you to achieve the right balance between IT efficiency and business innovation. It allows individual business units to innovate safely in their pursuit of competitive advantage. At the same time, it assures the needs of the organisation for an integrated IT strategy, permitting the closest possible synergy across the extended enterprise.
Why do I need a framework for IT architecture?
Using an architectural framework will speed up and simplify architecture development, ensure more complete coverage of the designed solution, and make certain that the architecture selected allows for future growth in response to the needs of the business.
TOGAF® plays an important role in helping to ease the architecture development process, enabling IT users to build genuinely open systems-based solutions to their business needs.
Who would benefit from using TOGAF®?
Any organisation undertaking, or planning to undertake, the implementation of an enterprise-wide technical infrastructure for the support of mission-critical business applications, using open systems building blocks.
Customers who design and implement corporate architectures using TOGAF® are ensured of a design and a procurement specification that will greatly facilitate open systems implementation, and will enable the benefits of open systems to accrue to their organisations with reduced risk.
What will my TOGAF® credentials give me?
Enterprise architecture professionals fluent in TOGAF® standards enjoy greater industry credibility, job effectiveness, and career opportunities. TOGAF® helps practitioners avoid being locked into proprietary methods, utilise resources more efficiently and effectively, and realise a greater return on investment.
How can I become TOGAF® certified?
Before you enter the enterprise architecture elite, you’ll need to pass two standard TOGAF® Enterprise Architecture exams:
If you are already TOGAF® 9 certified and would like to update your skills to encompass the 10th Edition certification, you can take a Bridge course.
These exams are challenging and it’s essential to keep up to date with the study material.
For the past twelve years in a row, we’ve been named one of the Top 20 IT Training Companies in the World. We offer accelerated TOGAF® courses that enable you to return to work certified in a fraction of the time. Perhaps one of them is right for you?
TOGAF® is a registered trademark of The Open Group.