This book offers a hands-on approach to enterprise architecture with The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) by relying on a case study to practically articulate parts of the architecture development method (ADM) cycle using unified modeling language (UML) and business process modeling notation (BPMN). The ultimate goal of enterprise architecture (EA) can be summarized as that of business value optimization. As such, EA aims to ensure that an organization meets its strategic objectives through IT. Therefore, business and IT should be aligned to fulfill the organization’s strategic goals.

Undertaking an architecture endeavor is not a simple task and requires a team effort, as well as the participation of all stakeholders in the value chain, so as to ensure that not only the future change (solution) is widely accepted and adopted, but also that activities are traceable to the original set of objectives. TOGAF as a framework of reference is cumbersome from a usability perspective due to the large amount of underlying documentation. Attempts to summarize it seldom result in just a few pages of documentation.

The authors have done a great job of producing a document of excellent quality, structure, and content in the complex field of EA. The application side of the book that entails using practical examples to take the reader through the core ADM phases is commendable. The book consists of 15 chapters that can be reasonably grouped into three parts, briefly summarized as follows. In the first part (chapters 1 to 6), the overall TOGAF standard is revisited, and the first chapter focuses on a brief overview of TOGAF with emphasis on its history and an overview of ADM and guidelines on its adaptability and usage by any organization interested in embarking on an EA journey. The complete ADM cycle is discussed in chapter 2, with emphasis on each of its phases, cycles, and iterations and the flexibility of their usage, depending on the challenge at hand. Chapter 3 presents TOGAF’s components, such as building blocks, deliverables, artifacts, catalogs, and metamodels. Also discussed in the chapter is the notion of viewpoint for presenting and documenting deliverables to the relevant audience using appropriate components. Such deliverables should be kept and managed following the organization’s principles and guidelines, which is the focus of chapter 4, with emphasis on notions such as an architecture repository for traceability of deliverables; an architecture board for accountability of the overall EA exercise in the entire organization; and an architecture contract for governing the various service level agreements (SLAs) and key performance indicators (KPIs) and ensuring that initially defined strategic objectives are achieved. Chapter 5 deals with generalities and concepts on key TOGAF modeling techniques and tools for documenting deliverables to various audiences (view and viewpoint). Discussions on concrete models used by TOGAF to architect an enterprise by extending UML and BPMN are covered in chapter 6. The “Discount Travel” enterprise case study to be used in Part 2 is introduced in this chapter.

In the second part (chapters 7 to 11), the authors rely on the “Discount Travel” case study to practically explore the various ADM phases. Phase A deals with the architecture vision and is discussed in chapter 7, whereby the main goal of the organization is formulated and further broken down into a measurable set of objectives on which architects will rely to capture the enterprise’s requirements and further define an initial solution concept. Chapter 8 focuses on the business architecture (ADM Phase B) with input from the previous phase. A range of deliverables for the target business architecture such as catalogs (for example, business dictionary) and diagrams (for example, business footprint, business functions) for “Discount Travel” are produced in this phase. The ADM Phases C and D on IS and technology architectures are covered in chapters 9 and 10, respectively. Following the same approach as in the previous chapter, artifacts such as catalogs, matrices, and diagrams (for example, application and user location diagrams, network computing hardware diagram) inherent to the two phases are delivered for the “Discount Travel” use case. The last phase of this part is Phase E (opportunities and solutions), presented in chapter 11, where the realization strategy for the envisaged transformation of the enterprise based on results from previous phases is presented in terms of a framework of projects to be undertaken, as well as intended benefits thereof. The main deliverables in this phase are the benefit diagram and the project context diagram.

The last part of this book covers chapters 12 to 15. Chapter 12 focuses on concepts such as service-oriented architecture (SOA), processes, and information, as well as their alignment to TOGAF and their applicability to EA. Also discussed in the chapter is the alignment of BPMN and SOA and how both can be merged for process automation. In chapter 13, two approaches to EA and TOGAF by companies from the public and private sectors are presented, demonstrating how EA is used to handle constantly changing user needs (public sector) and the delivery of new services to customers (private sector). Finally, chapters 14 and 15 deal with a TOGAF modeling standard (ArchiMate) and the enterprise architecture planning (EAP) profile by extending existing modeling standards such as UML and BPMN. The difference with ArchiMate is its ability to accommodate other ADM phases (F, G, and H), making it able to undertake an end-to-end modeling of all phases of the ADM. Because UML is inherently more technical, EAP is useful for adapting UML for EA modeling using TOGAF.

This book is of significant importance to the whole EA community, including but not limited to EA experts and beginners. Although EA experts can constantly refer to various parts of the book in order to improve their knowledge on various concepts, beginners may definitely rely on this book to grasp firsthand practical experience with EA.

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