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Architecture Forum Plan - 2003

Contents

1. Vision
2. Goals
3. Market Strategy
   3.1 Features and Benefits
   3.2 Positioning
   3.3 Sales Strategy
4. Technical Strategy
   4.1 Overview
   4.1 TOGAF
   4.2 IT Architecture
   4.3 Tools
5. Roadmap
   5.1 Projects and Deliverables
   5.2 Milestones
6. Change Record

1. Vision

The Architecture Forum will provide a core set of architecture capabilities to enable enterprises to develop integrated information infrastructures that address their business needs:

• Effective framework for IT Architecture:
  • TOGAF will be recognized and used throughout the IT industry as the repository and integrating framework for best IT Architecture practice, and as a method for IT Architecture that is trusted, open, and reliable.
  • TOGAF will provide a common vocabulary for all sides of the IT industry to discuss common IT Architecture problems and solutions.
• Effective IT Architecture profession and practitioners:
  • The task of IT Architecture will be a well recognized discipline, in the same way as systems design, programming, and project management.
  • IT Architecture will be practised by people who are knowledgeable and professional in the exercise of their discipline.
• Effective COTS tools for IT Architecture:
  • COTS tools will be widely available that effectively support the use of TOGAF for developing IT architectures.
  • It will be possible to design and define architectures for enterprise-wide IT systems using standardized logical components that have well defined behaviours and can be readily assembled according to well understood patterns and principles. Effective COTS tools will be available to support the design and definition of architectures using such standardized logical components.
  • Effective COTS tools will be available that allow an IT architecture to be captured and communicated in terms meaningful both to non-technical decision-makers and to IT professionals, with no loss of meaning. It will be possible to communicate the semantics of such IT architectures in a standard way
    • between different IT architecture tools;
    • between IT architecture tools and tools used in other phases of the systems life-cycle.

2. Goals

• Create an open forum for dialog between customer IT architects, IT architecture tools vendors, IT solutions vendors, integrators, consultants and academic / research organizations, that provides significant value to all participants.
• Use this forum as the vehicle to progress the following separate, but complementary and synergistic projects, which together will realize the stated vision.
  • Promulgate TOGAF widely within the IT industry, as a worldwide industry-standard, technology-neutral framework and method for Enterprise and IT architecture.
  • Encourage the evolution of TOGAF as an integrating framework and method for enterprise architecture, enabling other widely used frameworks with specific defined deliverables to be used in conjunction with the TOGAF framework and method.
  • Define the functions, skills, and experience required of IT Architects (of various specializations), as a means to enabling the task of IT Architecture to become a well recognized discipline.
  • Promote the definition of open, standard Architecture Description Languages for IT architecture tools, providing portability and interoperability of architecture definitions across different tools from different vendors.
  • Use such a language as the basis for defining open, re-usable architecture building blocks. Create an open repository in which to store such building block definitions (the "Building Blocks Information Base", or BBIB), and patterns of such building blocks (Architecture Patterns Information Base).

3. Market Strategy

The Architecture Forum will build on its existing achievements in the Architecture field by focusing on its acknowledged strengths, to provide a forum for achieving consensus on open industry standards in the IT Architecture field, and a core set of architecture capabilities enabling enterprises to use IT Architecture as a discipline for achieving their own "boundaryless information flow" vision.

3.1 Features and Benefits

The benefits to the various industry sectors can be summarized as follows:

3.2 Positioning

3.2.1 Relationship to Boundaryless Information Flow Initiative

There are obvious synergies between The Open Group's Boundaryless Information Flow initiative and the Architecture Forum.

Firstly, the Architecture Forum is a source of tools and methods for use in realizing the Boundaryless Information Flow initiative:

• The Business Scenario method, which forms part of the TOGAF Architecture Development Method, provides a means to define the requirements driving the development of integrated information infrastructures by individual enterprises.
• The method is also used within the Open Group to define the key generic business drivers and requirements behind the Boundaryless Information Flow initiative.
• The wider Architecture Development Method provides a reliable, practical, proven method for individual enterprises to develop integrated infrastructure architectures for achieving their own "boundaryless information flow" vision.
• The evolving, "enterprise edition" of TOGAF provides additional methodological support for architecture at the enterprise level.
• The Architecture Forum can provide practical support to the evolving definition of the Boundaryless Information Flow vision, goals, and strategy by The Open Group, including specific artefacts such as the Integrated Information Infrastructure Reference Model.

Secondly, Architecture Forum and TOGAF are consumers of the results of the Boundaryless Information Flow initiative, in terms of:

• Integrating the work done within The Open Group company to articulate the Boundaryless Information Flow vision.
• Integrating the work done within individual Open Group forums, to articulate the Boundaryless Information Flow vision.
• Providing an information base in which to capture Building Blocks and profiles for use in any integrated information infrastructure, and make them available to the industry at large.
• More generically, providing a framework to capture the lessons learned by enterprises in architecting integrated infrastructures to enable Boundaryless Information Flow, both within and external to The Open Group, and make them available to the industry at large.

3.2.2 Relationship to other forums of The Open Group

The Architecture Forum has obvious potential synergies with almost all the other forums of The Open Group.

TOGAF provides a framework that enables the work of other Forums to be put into context, both by the members of those Forums and by the industry at large.

The Business Scenario method, which forms part of the TOGAF Architecture Development Method, provides a means for other Forums to define the requirements driving the development of standards in the field concerned. The Business Scenario method is also used within the Open Group to define requirements at a generic, supra-Forum level.

3.2.3 Relationship to other bodies outside of The Open Group

The Architecture Forum has relationships with several external groups as follows (in alphabetical order):

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)
During 2001 The Open Group agreed to work with Carnegie Mellon University in order to unify its work on ADML, the on-going work of CMU on Acme and related XML-based architecture description languages, and other relevant architectural advances, with a view to defining open standards for architectural representation that will be adopted by the tools vendor community.

DMTF (Distributed Management Task Force)
The DMTF is focused on the development, adoption and unification of management standards and initiatives for desktop, enterprise and Internet environments. There is interest in both organizations to investigate possible synergies between TOGAF and the work of the DSDM.

DSDM Forum
The DSDM (Dynamic Systems Development Forum) is focused on methods for rapid systems development. There is interest in both organizations to investigate possible synergies between the TOGAF ADM and DSDM.

IEEE Architecture Working Group (IEEE Std. 1471-2000)
The IEEE Architecture Working Group is the body that developed IEEE Std. 1471-2000, a standard for architecture descriptions. The Architecture Forum has incorporated into TOGAF many of the concepts of IEEE Std. 1471-2000, and is on good terms with a number of the key individuals (David Emery, Rich Hilliard, Mark Maier, Ron Kohl).

Object Management Forum (OMG)
With its new focus on Model Driven Architecture, and its ownership of the UML standard, OMG has a significant mindshare in the architecting community. There is potential synergy in collaboration between the two forums. Specifically, there is an opportunity to combine the benefits of TOGAF, as a repository of architecture best practice and reliable method for developing IT architectures, with the rigor and modeling expertise inherent in the MDA initiative, for the benefit of the industry at large.

Reading University, UK
The DESEL project at Reading University is using TOGAF as an architecture methodology, and using ADML as a language with which to encode architecture definitions. Experience from this project is fed back into the Architecture Forum on a regular basis.

Telemanagement Forum (TMF)
The TMF, formerly the Network Management Forum, is primarily the organization for the telecommunications industry. There have been discussions between the TMF and the Architecture Forum in the past regarding the possibilities of leveraging the architecture work that the TMF has done with their Next generation Operational Support System (NGOSS) project. There is on-going collaboration between the TMF and The Open Group QoS Task Force.

3.3 Sales Strategy

Leads will continue be gathered reactively through web inquiries and attendees at the Architecture Briefings hosted by the Architecture Forum at the quarterly Members Conferences.

It has also become increasingly important to work through the various Open Group Regional Chapters, to engage interest in the Forum in the regions concerned. Regional meetings, held in association with Regional Chapters, have produced some useful leads in 2001 and 2002, although they have not been fully capitalized on. They are seen as a significant potential lead generator in the future.

External speakers at conferences and regional meetings have proved to be small but reliable source of leads for membership (they come to speak, then stay to participate), and the Forum will continue to seek external speakers with an eye to membership potential as a secondary motive (besides the intrinsic value of the presentation).

Member referrals: A strategy for encouraging member organizations to in turn encourage their suppliers and clients to participate in the Architecture Forum needs to be put in place.

We will pursue a program of external speaking engagements in future months, both as a means of promulgating TOGAF and as a source of lead generation. In particular, we will seek speaking engagements in other architecture related consortia and conferences.

We will continue to investigate opportunities for EU funding of projects and activities that are considered core to the technical and marketing strategy of the Forum.

4 Technical Strategy

4.1  Overview

The Open Group's Architecture Forum has been in existence since 1994. Over that time, the primary focus of the Forum has been on developing and refining The Open Group Architectural Framework (TOGAF), which continues to be made freely available (for internal use) from The Open Group public web server.

Over the last two years or so, the Forum has extended its scope beyond TOGAF to include two other key aspects:

• Enabling an open market for COTS tools for IT architecture -- both tools that can capture the semantics of an overall IT architecture, and tools in other parts of the life cycle that need to access architectural information.
• Fostering an effective IT Architecture profession and practice. The aim is to establish IT Architecture as a well recognized discipline, in the same way as systems design, programming, and project management, practised by people who are knowledgeable and professional in the exercise of their discipline.

The overall technical strategy thus has the following main components:

• TOGAF evolution and leverage:
  • TOGAF Version 8 - "Enterprise Edition"
  • TOGAF Version 7 - "Technical Edition"
• IT Architecture - Profession and Practice
  • TOGAF Certification
  • IT Architect certification
• Tools for IT Architecture:
  • TOGAF Tool Support - Certification
  • Standards for Architecture Definition
  • Architecture Building Blocks

4.1 TOGAF

General

TOGAF continues to be the core focus of the Forum's workplan, and by far the Forum's main asset.

Organisations of all sizes are re-engineering their business processes, often as a result of mergers and acquisitions, creating a growing demand for reliable methods and tools for moving from a piecemeal set of loosely interconnected systems to a consistent architecture that can integrate disparate organizational units into a coherent set of business functions.

The goal of this re-engineering activity is typically the implementation of an integrated information infrastructure capable of adequately supporting the integrated enterprise. TOGAF provides important architectural support for the achievement of this goal. The specific ways in which TOGAF provides architectural support for the implementation of integrated information infrastructures has already been outlined under Relationship to Boundaryless Information Flow Initiative.

The Open Group already has a significant track record in the IT Architecture field. It has developed and refined The Open Group Architectural Framework (TOGAF) over the past eight years, which in turn provides the TOGAF Architecture Development Method (ADM) - a vendor-independent, technology-independent, and tool-independent method for developing customer IT architectures based on open industry standards.

TOGAF is now widely known, dependable, and well proven in a number of significant architecture based projects. It is also gaining adoption by major integrators and consultancies seeking a recognized, open framework and method for IT architecture.

Consultancies that specialize in architecture services almost invariably have their own in-house methodologies. This results in customer lock-in to these proprietary methods, and means that architecture assets created in one consultancy engagement are not re-usable or transferable to another architecture project using different staff.

TOGAF provides a reliable basis for customer organizations to base their architecture activities (including the ability to require consultants and contractors to use TOGAF); and it also represents a basis for consultancies themselves to base their architectural business.

TOGAF Version 8 - "Enterprise Edition"

In 2002 the members of the Architecture Forum developed an "Enterprise Edition" of TOGAF - TOGAF Version 8. This took the well proven TOGAF framework and method focused on Technical Architecture, and adapted it to the other key domains of an overall Enterprise Architecture -- Business Architecture, Data Architecture, and Applications Architecture. The result was an integrated framework and method for overall Enterprise Architecture.

The promulgation and industry acceptance of the new "Enterprise Edition" of TOGAF, and the incorporation of feedback on its use, constitute some of the main deliverables for 2003.

TOGAF Version 7 - "Technical Edition"

At the same time, TOGAF Version 7 has been left current and publicly accessible, repositioned as the "Technical Edition" of TOGAF.

At the beginning of 2003, TOGAF Version 7 is being underpinned by a certification program aimed at strengthening and protecting the definition of TOGAF in the market place. The promulgation and market acceptance of TOGAF certification is another key goal for 2003.

TOGAF Versioning and Development Life-Cycle

A new Version of TOGAF has been published every year for the past 8 years. As of Version 8, however, TOGAF has been split into two strands - a "Technical Edition" (Version 7) and an "Enterprise.Edition" (Version 8). We need to understand whether we want that state of affairs to persist, and how the evolution of TOGAF, in whatever form(s), should work.

Drivers that lead to such considerations include the following:

• Version 8 is a major addition of core value, but prior to Version 8 the core of TOGAF actually remained stable for several years. The Forum needs to develop guidelines on how to decide whether a new Version of TOGAF is needed, and to give itself the freedom to move away from an annual cycle if warranted. Possibilities to be considered:
  • go to a 15-month (or longer) development cycle
  • organize TOGAF according to significant new content
• With the introduction of TOGAF "Enterprise.Edition" (Version 8), we need a stronger outreach program, perhaps in preference to further evolving TOGAF. An effective outreach program depends on sufficient bandwidth - which also implies a longer TOGAF development cycle.
• With the introduction of a major certification program in support of TOGAF Version 7, we need to reconcile the need for an annual cycle that allows early release of TOGAF added value, with the need for stability in those parts of TOGAF that support certification.    The launch of certification implies a longer TOGAF development cycle, to allow certificants to recoup their RoI in the certification program.

4.2  IT Architecture - Profession and Practice

"IT Architecture" and "IT Architect" are widely used but poorly defined terms in the IT industry today. They are used to denote a variety of practices and skills applied in a variety of IT domains.

This lack of uniformity leads to difficulties for organizations seeking to recruit or assign/promote staff to fill positions in the IT Architecture field. Despite the lack of uniform terminology, Architecture skills are in increasing demand, as the discipline of IT Architecture gains increasing attention within the IT industry.

Many enterprises have set up, or are considering setting up, an IT Architecture practice, as a means of fostering development of the necessary skills and experience among in-house staff to undertake the various architecting tasks required by the enterprise.

A key part of an IT Architecture practice is an IT Architect certification process, by which an enterprise formally recognizes the skills of its practising IT Architects, as demonstrated by their work.

Such certification processes are difficult and costly to set up. They are normally built around peer review, and involve the time and talent of the strategic technical leadership of an enterprise. Time is also required of candidates to prepare for peer review, by creating a portfolio of their work.

Because of the complexity, time and cost involved, many enterprises do not have an internal IT Architect certification process, preferring instead to simply interview and recruit architecture staff on an ad hoc basis. There are serious risks associated with this ad hoc approach:

• Time is wasted interviewing staff who lack the skills and/or experience required by the employer.
• Staff capable of filling IT Architecture roles may be overlooked, or may not identify with advertised positions and hence not apply.
• There is increased risk of unsuitable personnel being employed or engaged, despite everyone involved acting in good faith. This in turn can:
  • Increase personnel costs, through the need to rehire or reassign staff.
  • Adversely impact the time, cost and quality of operational IT systems, and the projects that deliver them.

This program of work within the Architecture Forum aims ultimately to set up an IT Architecture Practice Certification program, supported by The Open Group and other appropriate organizations, to include the following elements, each of which has value in its own right, and also (in the case of the second and third element) builds on the previous element:

1. Defining the Architecting skills and proficiency levels required of personnel, internal or external, who are to perform the role of IT Architect (of various flavours) within an enterprise.
2. Defining an IT Architect Certification Process, based on these defined skill sets and proficiency levels, which an enterprise can adopt for the certification of individual architects.
3. Defining an IT Architecture Practice Certification Program, by which The Open Group (perhaps in collaboration with other appropriate bodies) will certify enterprises whose IT Architecture practice has an IT Architect certification process conforming to the Open Group definitions.

Specific objectives:

• Provide a uniform definition of IT architectural skills and experience to which both recruiters and staff seeking to fill IT architecture roles can refer, simplifying the task of recruiting staff or consultants from external sources for IT Architecture work.
• Provide a set of industry-accepted norms to use as a basis for an IT Architect certification process, and avoid "re-inventing wheels".
• Encourage more enterprises to invest in IT Architect certification processes, to the benefit of the enterprises concerned and the industry at large.
• Encourage and promote the growth of the IT Architecture profession, which has only recently emerged as a profession in its own right.

4.3 Architecture Tools

TOGAF Support in Architecture Tools

At the beginning of 2003, TOGAF Version 7 is being underpinned by a certification program aimed at strengthening and protecting the definition of TOGAF in the market place.

One important element of this certification program is a Product Standard and corresponding certification for TOGAF Tool Support, whereby COTS tools can gain Open Group certification for their ability to support the use of the TOGAF Architecture Development Method.

Currently the whole TOGAF certification program, including TOGAF Tool Support, is limited to TOGAF Version 7 ("Technical Edition"). However, there is an intent to extend the program to TOGAF Version 8 ("Enterprise Edition") as soon as the definition of Version 8 is deemed stable.

Standards for Architecture Definition and Re-Use

Since the fall of 1999 the Architecture Forum has extended its focus to include encouraging an open market for COTS tools for IT architecture -- both tools that can capture the semantics of an overall IT architecture, and tools in other parts of the life cycle that need to access architectural information.

IT architecture tools are a class of tools that deal with the definition (and usually the graphical representation) of entire IT architectures. They are analogous to, but distinct from, the system design and CASE tools that deal with systems and software engineering.

Unlike object-oriented design and modelling tools, which have coalesced around UML as a common industry standard, there is as yet no commonly accepted commercial or de jure standard for IT architecture tools. While UML is an excellent basis for system and component design, and UML based tools are often used to model various aspects of IT architecture, up to the recent past UML has generally been found lacking as a basis for overall IT architecture design (see Sull et al, and Youngs et al in the IBM Systems Journal). This situation may change, however, with a number of recent initiatives, including:

• OMG's new focus on Model Driven Architecture (MDA);
• a joint project by INCOSE and the OMG to develop a UML profile for Systems Engineering, which may well support many of the concepts required of an architecture description language.

The goal of the Open Group in this area is to encourage a market for open tools that support the interchange of architecture definitions, enabling architecture definitions created by one tool to be portable across tools from different vendors, and and enabling all or part of such architecture definitions to be re-usable / portable across different customer IT architecture definitions.

The Open Group itself has contributed to this field by the adoption of the Architecture Description Markup Language (ADML), originally developed by the MCC consortium, in turn building on the Acme project at Carnegie Mellon University. A public web site gives information about ADML, and our goals for its deployment in the tools market. The Open Group sees ADML as complementary to, and not competing with, UML and the XML/XMI family of standards.

During 2000 The Open Group adopted ADML Version 1 as a Technical Standard. However, it is recognized that ADML has not been widely adopted in the market to date, and work on ADML has now been halted, pending the emergence and market scrutiny of standards in other bodies such as OMG. The Architecture Forum will continue to provide a forum in which customer enterprise architects can articulate their requirements for an industry standard for architecture definition and interchange, and tools vendors provide feedback on implementation.

Architecture Building Blocks

A key part of the updated Architecture Development Method in TOGAF Version 8 is an emphasis on the reuse of architecture assets, both internal (from previous IT Architecture work) and from the IT industry at large. This concept is closely allied to that of the definition of "building blocks" in architecture work, and their storage for reuse in some form of "Building Blocks Information Base".

This program of work aims to identify a means of:

• defining architectural building blocks in a way that allows their interactions with, and dependencies on, other building blocks to be captured; and
• storing them in a way that:
  • facilitates their use in conjunction with the TOGAF Architecture Development Method,
  • enables their import and export by Architecture tools; and
  • allows real products to be identified and procured to fulfil the defined functions.

It is envisaged that this definition work will be done by:

• Open Group members involved in architecture work within their own organizations
• Open Group members involved in architecture work within other Forums
• IT solutions vendors providing re-usable definitions of building blocks representing their own product functionality, for use by customer IT architects
• IT architects in non-member enterprises (in due course)

5. Roadmap

5.1 Projects and Deliverables

5.1.1  TOGAF Version 8 Evolution

Lead: JS

Confirmed Participants: ES; TB; SM; CB

With Version 8, TOGAF has evolved to become a framework and method for enterprise architecture, in addition to technology architecture. This expanded framework needs to be refined in light of feedback from practical use in 2003, ensuring that the different elements of feedback on TOGAF Version 8 are properly incorporated and well integrated. Whether this results in a TOGAF Version 9, and in what timeframe, depends in large measure on the outcome of the TOGAF Versioning project.

5.1.2 TOGAF Core / TOGAF Versioning and Development Life-Cycle

Lead:  CG

Confirmed Participants:  DJ; SM

With the publication of TOGAF Version 8, for the first time the previous Version of TOGAF has been left current (as the "Technical Edition" of TOGAF). Indeed, its position has been underpinned by the launch of a certification program aimed at strengthening the definition and acceptance of TOGAF Version 7 in the market. The future evolution of the "family" of TOGAF frameworks needs to be rationalized, bearing in mind the constraints on resources for maintaining different Versions of TOGAF.   The background to this work is explained under "TOGAF Versioning and Development Life-Cycle" above.

An integral part of this work is considering the definition of a "TOGAF Core": Proposals include:

• Identify the part of TOGAF that needs to be stable for certification purposes -- for example, work with tools vendors to crystallize the core of TOGAF that is supported in tools -- and describe this "TOGAF Core" in (say) 50 pages.
• Define a separate life-cycle for the core and for other TOGAF material.
  • Non-core might continue on annual cycle (or longer?)
  • Core is fixed for a period determined by the need for Certification RoI
    • A Core Working Group (to be set up) to advise
• A structure and development life-cycle that ensure the stability of "TOGAF Core", while allowing
  • early release of new added value as in previous years.
  • the addition to TOGAF of reference architectures in the context of the Enterprise Continuum (so TOGAF can be used together with latest industry models).

Another key part of this work is considering how to structure TOGAF when (and if) we have the Core.

Current proposals:

• A separate update and review cycle for core and non-core
• Ask the Open Group Board to restate its willingness to delegate to the Architecture Forum the responsibility for update and release of non-core TOGAF.
• TOGAF Core and certification materials to remain under company review process.
• Organizations and individuals who download TOGAF could have access to regular updates of non-Core TOGAF.

5.1.3  TOGAF Outreach / Promulgation

Lead:  DJ.

Confirmed Participants: TB

There is general agreement within the Architecture Forum that a key focus in 2003 should be on "outreach" - promulgating TOGAF and getting it accepted still further within the industry. This project will act as a focus / co-ordination point for both:

• A "set-piece" presentation on TOGAF and the Architecture Forum:
  • Architecture Forum members to propose updates to Chris Greenslade's Architecture Briefing presentation at Burlingame
  • The result to be made generally available to members as a set of Open Group slides, for use in isolation or in combination with other slides (depending on the context)
• Proactive identification of outreach targets

Potential speaking engagements:

• Meta Group / DCI's Enterprise Architecture Conference(s) have a lot of mindshare. Their next Enterprise Architectures Conference is March 18-20 in New York. They also do a reprise in London, 9-11 June: http://www.irmuk.co.uk/eac2003/.
  • Allen Brown (The Open Group CEO) is scheduled to present at the March DCI conference.
• The 2003 ZIFA Enterprise Architecture Forum is November 17–19, in Scottsdale, Arizona: http://www.zifa.com/forum.html
  • Feature our mapping of the TOGAF ADM to the Zachman Framework
• The Archplus series of seminars for federal personnel in DC.
• Chris Greenslade (Chair of the Architecture Forum) to speak at Fifth Annual Software Architecture Conference - Manchester, Eric Leach Marketing. 26-27th February 2003.
• Another possibility for Allen Brown:
  • IAC: http://www.iaconline.org/ and its Annual Executive Leadership Conference
    • This year to be held November 3-5, 2002 in Hershey, PA: http://www.iaconline.org/elc02/elc.html
• An Open Group "tools" event; E.g., "Support for multiple architecture frameworks"

Word of mouth promulgation:

• Encourage Architecture Forum members who are active in the federal arena to reference TOGAF, and recommend it for consideration for use in conjunction with any of the various federal architecture frameworks.
• Encourage tools vendors who support TOGAF to say so in their collateral and presentations.
• A number of Open Group platinum sponsors are considering basing at least part of their architecture practice on TOGAF. Together they comprise a significant part of the consultancy market. Encourage them to advertise the fact.

Article placements:

• Computerworld
• http://www.cio.com/
• http://www.cioinsight.com/

5.1.4 IT Architect Certification

Lead:  DJ

Confirmed Participants: ES; SM

An IT Architect Certification Working Group is already progressing this project. The background is explained under "IT Architecture - Profession and Practice" above.

This project aims to:

• Provide a uniform definition of IT architectural skills and experience to which both recruiters and staff seeking to fill IT architecture roles can refer, simplifying the task of recruiting staff or consultants from external sources for IT Architecture work.
• Provide a set of industry-accepted norms to use as a basis for an IT Architect certification process, and avoid "re-inventing wheels".
• Encourage more enterprises to invest in IT Architect certification processes, to the benefit of the enterprises concerned and the industry at large.
• Encourage and promote the growth of the IT Architecture profession, which has only recently emerged as a profession in its own right.

The specific goal is to set up an IT Architecture Practice Certification program, supported by The Open Group and other appropriate organizations, to include the following elements, each of which has value in its own right, and (in the case of the second and third elements) builds on the previous element:

1. Defining the Architecting skills and proficiency levels required of personnel, internal or external, who are to perform the role of IT Architect (of various flavours) within an enterprise.
2. Defining an IT Architect Certification Process, based on these defined skill sets and proficiency levels, which an enterprise can adopt for the certification of individual architects.
3. Defining an IT Architecture Practice Certification Program, by which The Open Group (perhaps in collaboration with other appropriate bodies) will certify enterprises whose IT Architecture practice has an IT Architect certification process conforming to the Open Group definitions.

5.1.5  Integrating TOGAF with OMG-MDA

Lead: GEM

Confirmed Participants:  BDS; ES; JJ

With its new focus on Model Driven Architecture, and its ownership of the UML standard, OMG has a significant mindshare in the architecting community. There is potential synergy in collaboration between the two forums in the Architecture space. Specifically, there is an opportunity to combine the benefits of TOGAF, as a repository of architecture best practice and reliable method for developing IT architectures, with the rigor and modeling expertise inherent in the MDA initiative, for the benefit of the industry at large.

The collaborative project initiated in 2002 will be progressed in 2003.

5.1.6  Requirements management

Lead:  JJ

Confirmed Participants: TB

The TOGAF ADM makes frequent reference to the need to continually check back against requirements during architecture development. Requirements are currently positioned as a static, defined set (e.g., in the ADM life-cycle diagram). In fact, the business and technical requirements change dynamically during architecture development, and a process for managing this change needs to be incorporated into the TOGAF ADM.

The project initiated in 2002 will be progressed in 2003.

5.1.7  Links to published architectures

Lead:  WmS (provisionally - based on MITRE "Body of Knowledge" project)

• Either as part of TOGAF, or simply as a part of the Open Group Architecture Portal web site, include a list of hyperlinks to other websites where actual architectures are published.
• Proposed list to be routed to Architecture Forum members. Only positively vetted sites to be included.

5.1.8  Boundaryless Information Flow / Integrated Information Infrastructure Reference Model / Building Blocks Information Base

Lead:  IM (with TB / Open Group support)

• TOGAF Version 8 incorporated an "Integrated Information Infrastructure Reference Model", in support of the Boundaryless Information Flow vision.
• In 2003, Terry Blevins, CIO of The Open Group, and Eliot Solomon, Independent Consultant, are focussing efforts within The Open Group overall to progress the Boundaryless Information Flow vision.
• This project will integrate into TOGAF the results of this work, which promises to contribute significantly to:
  • the evolution of the III-RM
  • the elaboration of the TOGAF Enterprise Continuum concept
  • the population of the Building Blocks Information Base

5.1.9  Architecture Migration and Implementation / Collaboration with DSDM Consortium

Lead:  DH

• A joint working group of the Architecture Forum and the DSDM Consortium have developed a detailed Vision Statement [PDF], setting out the scope of the envisioned collaboration between the two organizations.  
• All IT projects are to do with migration - TOGAF is a tool for doing in the IT Architecture domain, and for managing the risk involved.
• TOGAF's migration guidelines need expanding, and the potential collaboration with DSDM will provide significant input to this.

5.1.10  IT Governance / Architecture Outsourcing

Lead:  CG

Confirmed Participants:  DJ; ES; CB; AS

• Linking IT to the business
• Including governance when the Architecture function itself is outsourced.
• Expand the existing guidelines in Part IV of TOGAF, and link more directly to the ADM

5.1.11  Chief Architects Forum

Lead:  WmS

Confirmed Participants: JJ; TB

• Terry Blevins, CIO of The Open Group has developed a proposal for a Chief Architects Forum. The intent is to vet the concept in the Architecture Forum and refine as appropriate before exposing for Open Group management approval and implementation.
• Drivers:
  • Need to reach larger populations to achieve objectives of The Open Group at large and Architecture Forum in particular.
  • Need gravitational points that will attract new audiences.
• General description:
  • A virtual environment where architects can engage with experts from The Open Group Architecture Forum and with each other. The environment would include an interactive virtual web space, email list, and potentially fact-to-face sessions coincident with open sessions of regular quarterly meetings.
  • Virtual Web Space would be public, and could be divided into areas reflecting different supply chain needs - for example, a manufacturing supply chain area, for architects of manufacturing companies and architects of vendors supplying software and systems to that sector. Architecture Forum members would be encouraged to participate in discussion
  • Face-to-Face Sessions would be fee-based, open sessions held during regular quarterly meetings, and possibly regional events. Each session independent from others, therefore not a series. Each session driven by an architecture related theme.
• Intended Audience:
  • Chief Architects, Architects, Directors of Architecture, and other executives involved with architectural decisions within a company.
• Desired Outcome:
  • An environment for Chief Architects, Architects, Directors of Architecture, and other executives involved with architectural decisions to openly discuss their major issues, engage with each other, and have access to architecture expertise from the Architecture Forum.
  • Generate interest in participation in the Architecture Forum by those that engage.

5.1.12  Non-English language editions of TOGAF

Lead (Policy development ):  CG

Confirmed Participants:  JJ

• Factors leading to consideration of non-English editions of TOGAF:
  • Availability of TOGAF documentation in languages other than English an important part of TOGAF outreach.
  • Facilitate non-English-language delivery of TOGAF training.
  • A specific opportunity to use Korea as model for non-English editions of TOGAF:
    • Some big companies in Korea interested in TOGAF, but developing own models based on it. Korean version would help them, and prevent proliferation of different home-grown frameworks and models.
    • Korean National Computerization Agency (NCA) are active members, considering translation of TOGAF and adoption as Korean national standard in 2004.
    • There is an Open Group regional representative in Korea (Uniwys)
    • Popkin have a Korean language version of their System Architect tool and may be interested in synergy.
  • Using the proposed TOGAF Core as the focus of translation offers a simple way forward.
• Issues such as TOGAF certification and TOGAF licensing relating to non-English editions of TOGAF need to be clarified.
• This project would pursue the specific opportunity to develop and publish a Korean edition of TOGAF, and use it to develop a general model and business case for the development of non-English editions of TOGAF.

5.1.13  Open source in the enterprise

Lead:  WS

• Impact on TOGAF ADM unclear – just another technology?
• However, TOGAF could contribute guidelines in Part IV on open source in the enterprise
  • Risk factors
  • Recording of Building Blocks – could encourage Open Source community to record stability points, provide certification that a version corresponds to what is the the repository
• An Open source Building Blocks repository could be highly valuable – not clear if belongs with Architecture Forum – possibly an open source architecture?
• Architecture Forum to review open source community material, contribute guidelines to TOGAF

5.1.14  Liaisons

The following liaison activities have both outreach and technical dimensions:

• OMG liaison: tba
• DSDM liaison: DH
• TMF liaison: CG
• ETIS liaison (e- and Telecommunications Information Service): CG
• Engagement with US Federal Architecture work: BDS
• Promote TOGAF to U.S government (beyond DoD) : tba
• EU Framework VI: SH
• Tools vendors: tba
• Architect certification bodies- WWISA, ISACA/COBIT, ...: DJ
• Contact each supplier of a model referenced in TOGAF version 8: tba

5.1.15  Other Possible Activities

The following activities have no confirmed leader, and are not in progress at this time.

• Relating TOGAF to other frameworks/architectures.
  • This project aims to rationalize TOGAF’s positioning with respect to other significant architecture frameworks.
  • A simple positioning of all major architectural frameworks, e.g., by means of a two- or three-dimensional graph / diagram, with axes representing various dimensions of coverage, such as: enterprise / data / application / infrastructure; specific areas of  technology; etc. 
  • May take the form of a small book

• Open Group TRM / SIB extensions
  • The TOGAF TRM could use a refresh. However, this is problematic while TOGAF 7 and 8 coexist. Also, the TRM is included in TOGAF7 Certification.
  • Several other Open Group forums plan to develop "horizontal" architectures / reference models relating to their particular field (see the Boundaryless Information Flow work above), together with corresponding standards. These standards need to be incorporated into the Standards Information Base, and the work incorporated into the TOGAF TRM, if necessary.

• Infrastructure Architecture
  • The new section on infrastructure architecture in Part IV of TOGAF Version 8 is potentially a very useful set of concepts, which could be expanded with a view to integration into the main ADM at an appropriate stage.

• Boundaryless Information Flow - Reality Check
  • Bring together the large system vendors to cross-check their strategies for realizing Boundaryless Information Flow with the TOGAF III-RM and TRM, and identify the key interfaces and services to enable them to do it.
  • Alternative: ask them to share their reference models for doing whatever they call Boundaryless Information Flow. Do the analysis and correlation off-line.
  • TB activity; WmS to track within Customer Council

Key to activity/project leaders:

5.2 Milestones

6. Change Record