Architecture Forum Status Update
John Spencer, Director of The Open Group Architecture Forum, gave an
update on the forum, including the status of the various projects underway within the
Forum this year. [PDF]
John went on to give an update on membership, on a number of recent developments in the
Forum, and on downloads of TOGAF Version 8 (Enterprise Edition) this year, which were
showing an increase of 100% on the downloads of TOGAF Version 7 (Technical Edition) last
year.
TOGAF Lifecycle
There were three separate presentations on this topic:
- Chris Greenslade of Frietuna Consultants and Chair of the Architecture
Forum presented his view of the context to this discussion, in terms of the
evolution of the TOGAF framework and its current dual incarnation as a Technical Edition
(Version 7) and an Enterprise Edition (Version 8), and the need to rethink the long-term
approach to TOGAF evolution. [PDF]
- Walter Stahlecker of Hewlett-Packard gave a presentation entitled
"TOGAF and the Architecture Forum at a crossroads", in which he presented his
thoughts on the choices facing the Forum. [PDF]
- John Spencer, Director of the Architecture Forum, reviewed the
proposals previously circulated and made available on the members' web site, including the
proposal to consolidate on a single documentation set (the current TOGAF Version 8), and
to extend the TOGAF certification program to include a new TOGAF-Enterprise certification,
and converting existing TOGAF7 certifications into an equivalent TOGAF-Technical
certification. [PDF]
There was lengthy discussion, with eventual agreement to go forward with publication of
a Version of TOGAF in December 2003, in line with the ususal timetable, but not
necessarily following the previous Version numbering scheme (it will probably be called
Version 8.1, introducing a major / minor numbering scheme for TOGAF Versions).
It was also agreed to incorproate into the next release of TOGAF (in Part IV) a
detailed explanation of the approach to Technology Architecture (i.e., what is currently
TOGAF Version 7) in the context of the TOGAF Enterprise documentation. This would in turn
enable the TOGAF Version 7 documentation set to be frozen (it would remain publicly
available, however, for at least one more year).
TOGAF Academic Licensing
Walter Stahlecker of Hewlett-Packard presented his thoughts on the
introduction of a form of licensing for TOGAF aimed at academic institutions, including
the implications for certification. [PDF]
The Forum warmly endorsed the overall approach, and gave some constructive feedback on
details, which will be reflected in a further evolution of the proposals.
TOGAF and Boundaryless Information Flow
Terry Blevins, CIO of The Open Group, led a discussion on the synergy
between TOGAF and The Open Group's ongoing work in support of the Boundaryless Information
Flow vision.
This discussion followed on from Eliot Solomon's presentation on this topic during the
plenary of the Members' Conference earlier in the week, in which he presented a number of
different architectural patterns for boundarylessness. Eliot's work had in turn reflected
the input by the Architecture Forum itself at its interim workshop in New York, 30th June
- 2nd July. [There were no presentations in this session.]
TOGAF Skills Framework
Judith Jones of Architecting-The-Enterprise presented the work that
she had spoken on remotely by teleconference during the Architecture Forum's interim
workshop in New York, 30th June - 2nd July, which provided a strawman definition of the IT
Architecture Roles / Skills relevant to the TOGAF Enterprise Edition.
There were two inputs: a Powerpoint presentation, [PPT]
and a PDF integrating the various tables in the presentation into a single document. [PDF]
Skills Frameworks define the competency levels for specific roles, and are commonly
used for defining consultancy, project management, and other skills required to deliver a
project. They define:
- The roles within a work area
- The skills required by the roles
- The depth of knowledge required to fulfil the role successfully
Judith's strawman defined a detailed set of architecting roles and skill definitions
required to deliver an Enterprise Architecture, as described in TOGAF Version 8 -- a view
of the competency levels for specific roles within the Enterprise Architecture team.
The participants endorsed Judith's work as an excellent basis on which to build. It was
agreed to move forward with including it in the TOGAF documentation set.
TOGAF and OMG's Model Driven Architecture (MDA)
Allan Kennedy of Kennedy Carter Limited, and representing the OMG, presented
the work-in-progress between The Open Group Architecture Forum and OMG on a jointly agreed
positioning of TOGAF and OMG's Model Driven Architecture (MDA).
Allan reviewed the work to date on this joint project:
- TOGAF, and particularly the TOGAF ADM, provides considerable knowledge about the actual
and planned architecture (at all four levels) of a system, or a system of systems.
- MDA provides a set of languages for formalizing that knowledge as stakeholder-friendly
models that can be verified for correctness.....
- …and leveraged to automate the production of downstream deliverables.
There was detailed discussion on a variety of topics, including: the use of the term
"Architecture" in the TOGAF and MDA contexts; the distinctions between
"Architecture" and "Design"; the relationship of both to modeling and
metamodeling; and the positioning within the TOGAF ADM of the various MDA standards and
technologies.
It was agreed to move forward with an amplification of the work done to date, and to
seek additional involvement and inputs from interested personnel in both the OMG and The
Open Group.
Architecture Governance
Stuart MacGregor of Real IRM Solutions (South Africa) presented his
approach to this topic. [PDF]
Eric Smith, Christopher Blake, and Alan Simmonds of QA dialled into the meeting to
discuss Stuart's presentation, its relationship to QA's presentation on the same topic at
the Reading workshop in May, [PDF]
and to their TOGAF Impact Statement on this topic. [PDF]
It was agreed there was a lot of synergy between the two approaches, both being based
largely on the COBIT work undertaken by ISACA. It was agreed that QA and Real IRM
Solutions would consult off-line, and that a workshop would be convened in August to
consolidtae the input to TOGAF on this topic, in which Stuart would participate by
teleconference.
Architecture Maturity Models
Judith Jones of Architecting-The-Enterprise presented the background
to Architecture Maturity Models and her thoughts on the relevance to TOGAF. [PDF]
This is a topic closely related to that of Governance.
There was discussion of the need to develop a specific model for TOGAF, in order to
relate these concepts directly to TOGAF, as opposed to referencing an existing model, such
as the work done by SEI. There was also discussion of the need to relate to the more
recent CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration) work of the SEI.
Applications Architecture
Stuart Murray of Computacenter dialled into the meeting to discuss his
TOGAF Impact Statement on this topic [PDF],
which proposed additional material for Phase C of the TOGAF Enterprise Edition.
The Forum endorsed the proposed approach, which will now be fed into the planned TOGAF
Integration workshops in August and early September.
Requirements Management in the TOGAF ADM
Judith Jones of Architecting-The-Enterprise presented her TOGAF Impact
Statement on this topic. [PDF]
The Forum endorsed the proposed approach, which envisages a longer-term development
feeding into both the immediate next release of TOGAF, and also into future releases. This
work will now be fed into the planned TOGAF Integration workshops in August and early
September.
Links to Published Architectures
There was a short discussion led by John Spencer on the project to
develop a set of external links to architectures published on the Internet. John asked for
feedback on the nature of the required references and their positioning relative to TOGAF
and the Architecture Forum. It was agreed that they should be published for information
only, with no implied endorsement by the Architecture Forum.
IT Architect Certification
David Jackson of IBM reviewed the status of this project, which
represents one of the three core elements of the Architecture Forum's overall vision and
strategy (an effective IT Architecture framework, an effective IT Architecture discipline,
and effective IT Architecture tools). [PDF]
The project aims to develop a definition of IT Architect roles, skills, and experience,
and a supporting certification program, in collaboration with other key consortia and
standards bodies.
It was agreed to go forward at the next forum meeting in Washington, DC, with a survey
of appropriate personnel in The Open Group member companies, to gain a better
understanding of the drivers, value, and barriers to the introduction of such a
certification program.
Joint Session: Real-Time and Embedded Systems Forum
On Wednesday afternoon there was a joint session between the Architecture Forum and the
Real-Time and Embedded Systems Forum. The report of this session is given separately.
Wrap-Up / Work Planning
Planning for TOGAF Integration Workshop(s) in August / September
John Spencer led a brief discussion on the timing and location of
these workshops. As usual, there will be one in the UK (probably at The Open Group offices
in Reading), and another in the US, venue to be determined.
Planning for the Next Members' Meeting in Washington, DC
The meeting agreed an outline agenda for the next meeting in Washington, DC, which has Enterprise Architecture as the plenary theme.
Architecture Forum Report-Back to Plenary
Chris Greenslade of Frietuna Consultants and Chair of the Architecture
Forum gave the report back to The Open Group plenary on the activities and achievements of
the Architecture Forum during the week. [PDF]
