Many Enterprises won’t fully adopt an Architectural Framework, as they feel it imposes limitations on their way of doing business. One client I worked with refused to acknowledge the ITIL Framework, and as such spent days attempting to come up with the definition of a “service“. In the end, their definition was just a few words different than the ITIL definition ! In this next series, called “Practical TOGAF“, we’ll take a look at how to take an Architectural Framework and apply it in the real world.



The illustration on the left describes the TOGAF ADM (Architecture Development Model). Often referred to as the “TOGAF lollypop”, it describes the steps required to develop an Enterprise Architecture. I am just in the process of re-reading the TOGAF specification, and to be sure, much of the description for each section is repetitive. However, the specification is also very prescriptive, describing the goals & objectives of each step, as well as he required inputs & outputs (aka artifacts).

The TOGAF ADM starts with a section called Preliminary. It is assumed that the Enterprise has no EA Practice, and thus needs to define it. This will include building our a repository for any artifacts created, defining Guiding Principles, as well as carefully defining the mandate – sometimes drafted as a “Mission Statement”. Most importantly, it includes the roles & responsibilities of the various players, including business stakeholders & the EA Team.

In the next post, we’ll take a look at the first few steps defined on the ADM. In the meantime, I will be creating some graphics towards upcoming posts !