Within any modern enterprise, IT has a huge role to play in developing and fulfilling long-term goals. However, the exact nature of ‘technology architecture’ is not always clear, which can make it difficult to justify IT expenditure and investment. Many organizations fail to understand how IT fits into their enterprise continuum, leading to lagging business processes and excessive wastage.
First introduced in the 1980s, ‘Enterprise Architecture (EA)’ evolved as a set of practices designed to map out and govern the alignment between IT investment and wider organizational strategies. An accurate EA framework can help you to visualize goals, develop a clear understanding of your organization and identify potential threats and opportunities early on. This, in turn, can allow you to guide IT capital expenditures and create vital blueprints for development.
The ideas and techniques surrounding enterprise architecture continued to be developed and popularized as the decade wore on. Then, in the early 90s, The Open Group began work on ‘The Open Group Architectural Framework’, or ‘TOGAF’. Based on an earlier framework developed by the US Department of Defense, TOGAF’s comprehensive yet fluid approach to EA has set a globally recognized standard, with over 50,000 enterprise architects having become certified since its introduction. So many professionals have become fluent in the ‘language’ of TOGAF that a certification can enable enterprises to communicate effectively with partners and even between disparate industries.
The original focus of enterprise architecture, the lack of interoperability between products and systems, has become far less of a problem in recent years thanks to widespread availability of middleware. Thus the focus of EA has shifted, instead working to ensure that IT systems are refined and focused on achieving organizational goals.
TOGAF, in particular, solves this issue by providing both a fluid framework and clear terminology for enterprise architectural development. Rather than giving practitioners a cheat sheet or strict roadmap, it encourages the development of bespoke strategies via a well-defined framework.
Not only does this allow organizations to define exactly what they want to accomplish, but it also helps them to understand the resources at their disposal and how to get from A to B.
Most of the world’s most powerful and profitable companies have recognized the inherent risks of cumbersome, slow-moving and unclear IT departments. Enterprise architecture development tools, like TOGAF 9.1, enable businesses to avoid this problem, instead maximizing the clarity and effectiveness of IT within their organizations.
The Benefits of Enterprise Architecture and TOGAF:
Enterprise architecture frameworks like TOGAF and ArchiMate offer a variety of benefits for enterprise architects, project managers and large-scale organizations. Still, ‘enterprise architecture’ is hardly self-explanatory. When we get down to brass tacks, what are the inherent benefits of enterprise architecture?
- Saving time and money: Enterprise architecture is, at heart, designed to improve the efficiency of architectural development. This allows businesses to avoid wasting time and money in pursuing their goals.
- Expert insight: Frameworks like TOGAF are developed and refined by some of the world’s leading experts on business, IT management and enterprise architecture. This not only enhances these frameworks with invaluable insight, it also helps to ensure that they can be applied practically.
- Open-source: The Open Group makes materials on tools like TOGAF, ArchiMate and IT4IT freely available for non-commercial use. These resources can be invaluable for both novice and veteran practitioners, as well as businesses which are curious about the potential benefits.
- Flexible – TOGAF can be tailored to suit the unique requirements and structure of any organization. It is also designed to be compatible with other frameworks, such as ITIL and BPMN.
- Popular: Many frameworks, and TOGAF in particular, are so well-known that a certification can enhance the standing of a business. It also means that there are a wide number of accredited practitioners, ensuring that you can always find experts when you need them.
- Constantly evolving: The Open Group continues to update and refine its frameworks to incorporate the latest insights and practices. At the same time, the core concepts behind its frameworks remain unchanged, allowing certified users to update their knowledge as they go along rather than having to constant retrain.
Enterprise Architecture with Good e-Learning
Good e-Learning provides proven and cost-effective training solutions for the most highly regarded practices and tools in enterprise architecture (EA). Our selection includes:
- TOGAF® 9.2 Certification – Regarded as the industry standard-setting framework for enterprise architectural development
- TOGAF® Essentials 2018 – The ONLY accredited online training course for TOGAF Essentials 2018, enabling you to bridge the gap in your knowledge from TOGAF 9.1 to Version 9.2
- ArchiMate® 3 Practitioner – The enterprise architecture modeling language which supports the description, analysis and visualization of architecture models
(All of our courses are accredited by The Open Group.)
The courses we offer are perfect for both companies and individuals who are looking to gain a globally-recognized certification in enterprise architecture. Whether you are a seasoned enterprise architect or a new student, we can provide excellent course content to suit your personal learning style.
