How to Customize TOGAF
posted by Anna Mar, August 14, 2012TOGAF is a comprehensive framework for enterprise architecture. It's so comprehensive that you'd become ineffective if you followed it to the letter.
Most EA practices decide to customize TOGAF. If you're planning to do the same there are a are 3 things you should consider.
1. Customization Level
TOGAF can be customized at two levels:a. At the EA practice level
Define a formal architectural process for your organization based upon TOGAF.b. For each architectural cycle
View TOGAF as a flexible process and grocery list of artifacts that can be customized as needed for each architectural cycle.This choice will depend on a number of factors including:
the size of your EA practice
your level of EA and organizational maturity
the complexity of your architecture and projects
your EA tool sets
the set of methodologies your using (Zachman, Prince2 etc...)
your philosophy and mission as a EA team
The best approach is often mixed: defining a formal process for your EA practice that's subsequently customized for each cycle.
2. Customizing the TOGAF ADM
The TOGAF ADM is a simple iterative process.
It's so simple that there's no point customizing it. However, it's advantageous to take a flexible approach:
Omit steps that don't make sense for each cycle.
Make phases concurrent. For example, it makes little sense to impose a strict ordering on your business, IS and technology architectures (steps B-D).
Step H is a flaw in the process. Change management shouldn't be a phase at the end of the process — it's an ongoing activity.
3. Customizing TOGAF Documentation
The list of inputs and outputs for each phase of the ADM is quite extensive. Consider, the inputs and outputs for phase G: Implementation Governance.
The best way to customize TOGAF documentation is to view the list of deliverables for each phase of the ADM as a grocery list. Only take what you really need.
TOGAF also outlines the basic structure of each of the ADM deliverables. It's recommended to use this as the basis of your document templates. They can be used as-is (if you mark the least critical parts as optional).
TOGAF is a registered trademark of The Open Group
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