TOGAF

8 units, 21 lessons and 46 questions on TOGAF. Includes a full-length OGEA-101 mock exam drawn in the published domain weights, marked with a per-domain breakdown. Free, and open without an account.

The exam it prepares for: TOGAF Enterprise Architecture Foundation (Part 1) (OGEA-101), 40 questions in 60 minutes, pass 60% — 24 of 40, closed book.

What is in it

What TOGAF is

A method, not a reference architecture. The distinction is examinable.

  • A framework for developing architecture — TOGAF describes how to produce an enterprise architecture. It does not hand you one. Most of the document is method; the content framework tells you what the method should produce.
  • The four architecture domains — Business, Data, Application and Technology. Data and Application together are the Information Systems Architectures, which is why phase C covers both.

The ADM cycle

The phases, their order, and the one that is not in the circle.

  • Preliminary and phases A to D — Preliminary sets up the capability and the principles. A frames the engagement and produces the Architecture Vision. B, C and D develop Business, Information Systems and Technology architectures.
  • Phases E to H — E turns gaps into work packages. F sequences them into a migration plan. G governs the implementation. H handles change once it is live.
  • Requirements Management is not a phase — It sits at the centre of the circle and runs throughout. Requirements are captured and dealt with by whichever phase is relevant; the centre stores and manages them.

The vocabulary that costs marks

Words the standard uses in a narrower sense than English does.

  • View and viewpoint — A viewpoint is the perspective — the conventions for constructing and reading. A view is what you actually see when you look from it. The definitions come from ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010.
  • ABB and SBB — An Architecture Building Block says what capability is required. A Solution Building Block says what actually provides it — a product, a service, a bought thing.
  • Deliverable, artifact, building block — A deliverable is contractual and signed off. An artifact is a finer-grained work product — a catalog, matrix or diagram — usually inside a deliverable. A building block is a component of capability or solution.

Continuum, repository, governance

Where the output lives and who keeps it honest.

  • The Enterprise Continuum — A way of classifying assets by how general they are: Foundation, then Common Systems, then Industry, then Organization-Specific. It has an Architecture side and a Solutions side.
  • The Architecture Repository — Holds the Metamodel, the Architecture Capability, the Architecture Landscape, the Standards Information Base, the Reference Library and the Governance Log.
  • Architecture governance — The Architecture Board runs compliance review. Dispensations exist so that a justified exception is recorded rather than hidden.

Sitting the exam

What the two parts ask of you, and how to prepare for each.

  • Two parts, two different skills — Part 1 is closed-book multiple choice on the vocabulary and the structure. Part 2 is open-book and scenario-based, with graded answers where several options are defensible and one is best. The exact question counts and pass marks differ by edition — take them from The Open Group, not from a course.

Foundation · Concepts and definitions

What an enterprise architecture is for, the four domains, and the vocabulary the exam uses precisely.

  • The four architecture domains — Business, Data, Application and Technology. Data and Application together are often called the Information Systems architectures, which is how the ADM phases are grouped.
  • The Enterprise Continuum and repositories — The Enterprise Continuum classifies assets from generic to specific: Foundation, Common Systems, Industry, and Organization-Specific architectures. The Architecture Repository is where they are held.
  • More on concepts — Further practice on the vocabulary the exam uses precisely.

Foundation · The ADM cycle

The Preliminary Phase through Phase H, Requirements Management at the centre, and what each phase produces.

  • Phases and their objectives — Preliminary prepares the capability; A sets the vision and gets the Statement of Architecture Work approved; B, C and D develop the domains; E and F plan the migration; G governs implementation; H manages change.
  • Gap analysis, and the deliverables that carry the work — Gap analysis compares baseline against target to find what is missing or deliberately removed. The Architecture Definition Document holds the architectures; the Architecture Requirements Specification holds the measurable requirements.
  • More on the ADM — Further practice on phase outputs and their sequence.

Foundation · Governance and stakeholders

The Architecture Board, compliance, contracts, capability, and how stakeholders are identified and managed.

  • Architecture governance in practice — A governance framework needs a body with authority, a process for dispensations, and a record. The Architecture Board owns compliance; dispensations make the framework survivable rather than ignored.
  • Stakeholders, concerns and the business scenario — Stakeholder management identifies who matters and what they care about; the business scenario technique elicits the problem, the environment, the actors and the desired outcome before any solution is drawn.
  • More on governance — Further practice on compliance, risk and capability.

Open the TOGAF course · sit the OGEA-101 mock exam · try 10 practice questions first