By Andrew Josey and Garry Doherty, The Open Group
We know that TOGAF® isn’t perfect. In fact, it probably never will be, but sometimes, especially after a major release, it’s a good idea to stop and look backwards after its been in implementation for a while… just to make sure we’ve gotten it right and to review the standard for reasons of further clarification and to improve consistency.
That’s why we’re releasing TOGAF® 9.1. It contains a set of corrections to address comments raised since the introduction of TOGAF® 9 in 2009. We have been able to address over 400 of the comments received against TOGAF® 9, resulting in over 450 changes to the standard.
The maintenance updates in TOGAF® 9.1 are based on feedback received on the framework as organizations have put it to good use over the past three years. As such the changes are upwards compatible adding clarification, consistency and additional detail where needed. Some of the most significant updates include:
- The SOA chapter (Part III, Chapter 22, Using TOGAF to Define & Govern SOAs) has been updated to include the latest Open Group SOA Work Group output providing guidance on adapting the ADM phases for SOA
- ADM Phases E and F (Part II, Chapters 13 and 14) have been reworked to match the level of detail in other phases, and the uses of terminology for Transition Architecture, Roadmap, and Implementation Strategy clarified and made consistent
- Corrections have been applied to aspects of the Content Metamodel (Part IV, Chapter 34, The Content Metamodel) including the metamodel diagrams
- The concepts of levels, iterations and partitions have been clarified and made consistent. This includes a reorganization of material in Part III, Chapter 19, Applying Iteration to the ADM and Chapter 20, Applying the ADM across the Architecture Landscape, and also Part V, Chapter 40, Architecture Partitioning
- The terms “artifact” versus “viewpoint” have been clarified and made consistent. This includes a restructuring of Part IV, Chapter 35, Architectural Artifacts
- Changes have been made to improve general usability including:
- The artifacts for each phase are now listed in the phase descriptions
- Duplicate text in several places has been replaced with an appropriate reference
- The “Objectives” sections of the phases have been reworked
- Some artifacts have been renamed to better reflect their usage
If you’re already TOGAF® 9 certified, don’t worry about the status of your certification. The TOGAF® 9 Certification for People Program has been designed to accommodate maintenance updates to the TOGAF® 9 standard such as TOGAF® 9.1. So impacts on the program are minimal:
- The two levels of certification remain as TOGAF® 9 Foundation and TOGAF® 9 Certified.
- Individuals who are currently certified in the TOGAF® 9 People Certification program remain certified.
TOGAF 9.1 is available for online reading at http://www.opengroup.org/togaf/ and available in The Open Group Bookstore at http://www.opengroup.org/bookstore/catalog/g116.htm .
A detailed description of the changes between TOGAF 9 and TOGAF 9.1 is available at http://www.opengroup.org/bookstore/catalog/u112.htm .
So now you know why pencils have erasers… because perfection is a constantly moving target!
Oh no! I only *yesterday* finally got to ordering a paper copy of togaf 9 (over AUD $100 for my trouble). By the time it will reach me it will be superseded and replaced with something more readable and usable.
Do the open group have a published target roadmap or timetable for these things so that people likened can plan not to waste money like this? This update has come out of nowhere for me.
Thanks
Mike
Hi Mike,
Thank you for your comment. TOGAF is managed and developed by The Open Group Architecture Forum, and we share updates and announcements like these with the forum and also during our quarterly conferences (the TOGAF 9.1 Update was announced to the forum in July). To receive these types of updates, I would recommend joining or becoming more active in the forum (http://www.opengroup.org/architecture/) and/or attending our quarterly conferences – the next one is at the end of January in San Francisco (http://www.opengroup.org/sanfrancisco2012).
We’ll send you a link to download a free PDF of TOGAF 9.1 (if others who have purchased TOGAF 9 in the last month would like a free PDF of TOGAF 9.1, they should send a copy of their purchase receipt to our Bookstore team at ogbooks (at) opengroup.org)
Please let us know if you have any further questions.
Andrew Josey
Director of Standards, The Open Group
Thanks for your response Andrew.
What I was seeking is not an ‘insider view’ of what’s coming, but rather a high-level roadmap/plan of when the standard is due for update; this would allow individuals like me to consider the best time to invest in materials, training and so on. I don’t need to know what’s in each update, simply when it’s expected to ship..
I was hoping The Open Group might find an alternative means to share this information rather than asking either for fully-paid membership or asking people to a conference on the other side of the world (in my case!)
Surely the stakeholders associated with the publication of TOGAF extend far beyond those who attend the conference or have a corporate membership? If I had my tongue in cheek, you might say I’m looking for some of that boundaryless-information-flow 🙂
As per my earlier comment, in this case I have purchased a paper copy of the book which had just shipped by the time I’d found out about the update; I can get hold of an evaluation or licensed version of the PDF at any time for no cost through the website, so I’m not clear on how this offer would be of benefit.
Thanks and Regards
Mike
hi Mike
The best local alternative to tap into what is happening is via the AEA, the Association of Enterprise Architects (https://www.aogea.org). They have approximately 30 local chapters and many of the chapter leaders are involved in the ongoing development of TOGAF. (If you do not have a local chapter close by you can also start your own)
As for the current plans, The Open Group Architecture Forum has stated a target to update the TOGAF(R) publication on a 4 year cycle between major releases, and it has a development project underway to develop the next major revision (previously mentioned in the Blog at http://blog.opengroup.org/2011/08/25/monet-revisited-or-non-traditional-approaches-to-developing-togaf%C2%AE-next/ ). The goal is the development of an “easier to consume” version of TOGAF which would be modular, extensible, toolable, profilable and internally consistent, with the first step on that being the 9.1 release addressing known defects. This development is in its early stages and has to achieve member consensus before any dates for release can be considered.
regards
Andrew Josey
The Open Group