4 of the 17 questions we have for this objective, shown with the answer and the reasoning.
The context within which an Enterprise Architecture practitioner must operate
Arlen Group is a holding company with four operating divisions: energy, shipping, property and retail. Each division already has a small architecture team with its own methods and repository. The new Group CIO wants a single Enterprise Architecture Capability that can steer group-wide investments without slowing the divisions down, and asks the Group Chief Architect to start the Preliminary Phase. The divisional CIOs fear that their teams will be absorbed.
What should the Group Chief Architect establish first in the Preliminary Phase?
- AA single central architecture team, by merging the four divisional teams, before any scope or governance is discussed.Choosing the organizational structure before agreeing scope and governance prejudges the outcome and confirms the divisional CIOs' fears. The TOGAF Standard allows federated models where they fit.
- BA group standard tool for the Architecture Repository, so that all four divisions store their content in one place.Tool selection is a later step in the Preliminary Phase and depends on the agreed scope, organizational model and framework. Choosing a tool first does not resolve who does what.
- CThe scope of the enterprises affected and an organizational model for Enterprise Architecture that defines the roles of the group and divisional teams and their governance relationships.The Preliminary Phase starts by scoping the enterprise organizations affected and confirming governance and support frameworks, then defines the architecture team and organization. A federated model with clear group and divisional responsibilities addresses both the CIO's goal and the divisions' concerns.
- DA Group Target Business Architecture developed in Phase B for each division, to show the divisions what group-wide alignment means.Developing Target Architectures is ADM cycle work that needs an established capability, an approved scope and a Statement of Architecture Work. It does not belong in the Preliminary Phase.
Why: The Preliminary Phase steps begin with scoping the enterprise organizations impacted and confirming governance and support frameworks, followed by defining and establishing the Enterprise Architecture team and organization, identifying principles, tailoring the framework and implementing tools (TOGAF Standard, ADM, Preliminary Phase; EA Capability and Governance, Establishing an Architecture Capability). In a federated enterprise the key decision is how group and divisional architecture functions relate, which is part of the organizational model for Enterprise Architecture. The scenario's tension between central steering and divisional autonomy is the constraint that makes this the first priority. The distractors jump to structure, tools or architecture content before the scope and model are agreed.
The context within which an Enterprise Architecture practitioner must operate
Pemberton Port Authority is ending its Preliminary Phase. The governance office has asked the lead architect for a checklist of the work products the phase should hand over before the first ADM cycle begins. A junior architect has drafted the checklist and included several items that belong to other phases.
Which item on the checklist is an output of the Preliminary Phase?
- AStatement of Architecture Work for the first engagement.The Statement of Architecture Work is produced and approved in Phase A, in response to a Request for Architecture Work.
- BArchitecture Contract with the first delivery team.Architecture Contracts are agreed during Implementation Governance in Phase G.
- COrganizational Model for Enterprise Architecture.The Organizational Model for Enterprise Architecture is a Preliminary Phase output, alongside the Tailored Architecture Framework, architecture principles and the initial Architecture Repository.
- DImplementation and Migration Plan.The Implementation and Migration Plan is drafted in Phase E and finalized in Phase F.
Why: The Preliminary Phase prepares the organization for architecture work, and its outputs include the Organizational Model for Enterprise Architecture, the Tailored Architecture Framework (including architecture principles), the initial Architecture Repository and a Request for Architecture Work (TOGAF Standard, ADM, Preliminary Phase). The distractors are real ADM outputs from Phases A, E, F and G. Knowing which outputs belong to which phase helps an architect see whether the capability is ready before an engagement starts.
The context within which an Enterprise Architecture practitioner must operate
Hollis Bank is starting an ADM cycle for a new digital banking proposition. The executive committee has already agreed the target operating model at a high level, and the sponsor insists that the new proposition must not inherit the manual workarounds and product silos of today's branch processes. The current landscape includes more than 200 applications from several acquisitions, and the Architecture Board still needs to see what must change to reach the target.
How should the architect structure the architecture development iterations?
- AUse a baseline-first approach: fully document all 200 applications and current processes before considering the target.The TOGAF Standard describes baseline-first iteration as suitable when the target solution is not clearly understood or agreed, using the baseline assessment to find problem areas. Here the target is already agreed at a high level, and starting from today's processes risks carrying current practice into the target.
- BUse a target-first approach: develop the Target Architecture first, then describe the baseline in enough detail to support gap analysis and migration planning.The TOGAF Standard describes target-first iteration as suitable when a target state is agreed at a high level and the enterprise wishes to avoid proliferating current business practice into the target model. The target is elaborated in detail and then mapped back to the baseline to identify the change activity.
- CSkip the Baseline Architecture altogether because the target is a new proposition.Target-first still maps the target back to the baseline. Without any baseline the Architecture Board cannot see what must change, and gap analysis and migration planning lose their foundation.
- DRun a Transition Planning iteration first, covering Phases E and F, to define work packages before any architecture is developed.Transition Planning iterations depend on the architectures developed in Phases B to D. Planning migration before any architecture exists reverses the dependency.
Why: The TOGAF Standard describes two styles of architecture development iteration and when each fits (TOGAF Standard, Applying the ADM, Applying Iteration to the ADM). Baseline-first starts from an assessment of the current landscape to identify problems and opportunities, and suits a situation where the target is not clearly understood or agreed. Target-first elaborates the target in detail and then maps it back to the baseline to identify change, and suits a target agreed at a high level where the enterprise wants to avoid carrying current practice into the new model. The decisive facts are the agreed high-level operating model and the sponsor's demand not to inherit today's workarounds, while the Board's need to see the changes means the baseline is still described as far as gap analysis requires. A common trap is to pick baseline-first simply because the current estate is large; the TOGAF criterion is how well the target is understood and agreed.
The context within which an Enterprise Architecture practitioner must operate
Tamsin Insurance's board has approved enterprise principles, including "Customer Data Belongs to the Customer", which commits the company to let customers see and export all data held about them. In the Preliminary Phase, the IT architecture team drafts a data principle stating that customer data is internal to the company and may be released only to regulators. The draft is submitted to the Architecture Board for approval.
What should the Architecture Board require?
- AApprove the draft, because architecture principles take precedence over enterprise principles for IT decisions.The TOGAF Standard places architecture principles beneath enterprise principles. They elaborate and apply enterprise principles; they do not override them.
- BGrant the IT team a dispensation from the enterprise principle so that both can stand.Dispensations are time-limited exceptions for specific solutions. They are not a way to create a standing architecture principle that contradicts an enterprise principle.
- CKeep both principles and let each project choose which one to follow.Two contradictory principles provide no guidance and invite inconsistent decisions, failing the consistency criterion for good principles.
- DRevise the draft so that it is consistent with and derived from the enterprise principle, with a rationale that refers to it.Architecture principles should be informed by, and consistent with, enterprise principles. Linking the rationale to the higher principle shows that relationship.
Why: The TOGAF Standard describes a hierarchy in which enterprise principles inform architecture principles, which in turn guide solution decisions; architecture principles must be consistent with the enterprise principles they elaborate (TOGAF Standard, ADM Techniques, Architecture Principles). The scenario's draft directly contradicts a board-approved enterprise principle, so it cannot be approved as written. The distractors misuse dispensations, invert the hierarchy, or accept contradictory guidance.