2.4 Architecture Capability
Key Takeaways
- An Architecture Capability is put in place through organization structures, roles, responsibilities, skills, and processes so architecture work can be carried out effectively.
- The Preliminary Phase determines the Architecture Capability the organization wants and then establishes it.
- TOGAF advises running an Enterprise Architecture practice like any other operational unit, with capabilities such as financial, performance, risk, and quality management.
- Well-defined, effective governance is central to operating an ongoing architecture practice.
- TOGAF groups EA services into six categories, including Design Support Services that develop Minimum Viable Architectures (MVAs).
2.4 Architecture Capability
Learning Unit 1 asks you to briefly explain what an Architecture Capability is. TOGAF's answer is organizational: to carry out architecture effectively, an enterprise must put in place an appropriate business capability for architecture — organization structures, roles, responsibilities, skills, and processes — and run it like any other operational unit.
Definition and Scope
The general glossary definition of capability is "an ability that an organization, person, or system possesses." Applied to architecture, the TOGAF Standard, 10th Edition states:
In order to carry out architectural activity effectively within an enterprise, it is necessary to put in place an appropriate business capability for architecture, through organization structures, roles, responsibilities, skills, and processes.
The ADM's Preliminary Phase exists to determine the Architecture Capability desired by the organization and to establish it. The Enterprise Architecture Capability and Governance document of the Fundamental Content, and Series Guides such as the TOGAF Leader's Guide to Establishing and Evolving an EA Capability, give detailed guidance. An Architecture Capability is established specifically to support one or more purposes — Strategy, Portfolio, Project, or Solution Delivery (Section 10.4).
The Elements of an Architecture Capability
The TOGAF Architecture Capability overview connects these elements:
| Element | Role in the capability |
|---|---|
| Governance bodies | Direct the capability, set priority and focus, and measure success |
| Skilled resource pool | Architecture professionals who possess skills and knowledge, improved through professional development |
| Roles and responsibilities | Generic and project-specific roles assigned to architecture professionals |
| Projects and portfolios | Governed against their contracts; they re-use building blocks and comply with standards |
| Architecture Repository | Populated by architecture work; classified using the Enterprise Continuum |
| Business operations | Receive aligned solutions delivered through governed change |
Running the Practice as an Operational Entity
The standard observes that, except for capabilities set up purely to support change programs, a successful EA practice must sit on a firm operational footing — it should be run like any other operational unit within a business. Over and above the ADM processes, the practice should establish capabilities in:
| Financial Management | Performance Management |
| Service Management | Risk and Opportunity Management |
| Resource Management | Communications and Stakeholder Management |
| Quality Management | Supplier Management |
| Configuration Management | Environment Management |
Central to operating an ongoing architecture practice is well-defined and effective governance, in which all architecturally significant activity is controlled and aligned within a single framework (Chapter 11).
Enterprise Architecture Services
The 10th Edition also describes EA activities being provided through a service delivery model, organized into six service categories. The first four are customer-centric; the others are more internally focused on architects:
| Service category | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Enterprise Support Services | Enable informed enterprise decisions in support of organizational change, independent of any single project |
| Design Support Services | Enable informed design decisions after a project is funded; include developing Minimum Viable Architectures (MVAs) and related analysis |
| Development Support Services | Enable informed development decisions during a project's development phase |
| Requirements Elicitation and Understanding Services | Get closer to the real need that will deliver greater business value |
| Architecture Planning Services | Enable well-planned and executed architecture projects, typically at the start of a project |
| EA Practice Development Support Services | Develop and manage the EA practice and improve EA Capability |
Establishing the Capability Through the ADM
The Preliminary Phase objectives show how a capability is built:
- Determine the Architecture Capability desired — review the organizational context, identify and scope the organizations affected, identify established frameworks, methods, and processes that intersect with it, and establish a capability maturity target.
- Establish the Architecture Capability — define and establish the Organizational Model for EA, define the detailed processes and resources for architecture governance, select and implement supporting tools, and define the Architecture Principles.
Supporting Series Guides cover related topics such as architecture skills, architecture maturity models, and architecture project management. Maturity models help assess where the capability is today and set improvement targets.
Scenario: From Project Team to Practice
A logistics company ran architecture as ad hoc help on large projects. Each project re-invented principles and diagrams. Using the Preliminary Phase, leadership defined an Organizational Model for EA, created an Architecture Board, stood up a repository with a tailored metamodel, set a maturity target, and offered Design Support Services (including MVAs) to funded projects. Within a year, re-use of reference models increased and architecture decisions were recorded in a single governance framework — the capability, not individual heroics, now sustains the work.
Common Exam Pitfalls
- Treating Architecture Capability as a document. It is an organizational ability made of structures, roles, responsibilities, skills, and processes.
- Confusing capability with the ADM. The ADM is the method; the capability is what enables an enterprise to perform architecture using that method.
- Forgetting where it is established. The Preliminary Phase determines and establishes the Architecture Capability.
- Ignoring governance. TOGAF places effective governance at the center of operating an ongoing architecture practice.
According to the TOGAF Standard, how does an enterprise put an appropriate Architecture Capability in place?
In which ADM phase is the Architecture Capability desired by the organization determined and then established?
What does the TOGAF Standard recommend about how an Enterprise Architecture practice should be operated?
Which TOGAF EA service category includes developing Minimum Viable Architectures (MVAs) to support design decisions after a project has been funded?