3.1 Terms for Architecture Domains, Levels, States & Capability
Key Takeaways
- TOGAF defines the Architecture Landscape as the architectural representation of assets in use, or planned, by the enterprise at particular points in time.
- A Strategic Architecture is a summary formal description of the enterprise, providing an executive-level, long-term view for direction setting.
- A Segment Architecture is a detailed, formal description of areas within an enterprise, used at the program or portfolio level to organize and align change activity.
- A Transition Architecture is a formal description of one state of the architecture at an architecturally significant point in time.
- TOGAF defines a Capability as an ability that an organization, person, or system possesses.
3.1 Terms for Architecture Domains, Levels, States & Capability
Learning Unit 2 of the Foundation syllabus is purely terminology: you must be able to define 21 concepts. OGEA-101 questions frequently hinge on one word in a definition, so this section and the next give the TOGAF Standard, 10th Edition glossary meaning of each term, explain it in plain language, and show how easily confused terms differ.
This section covers the terms that describe what kind of architecture you are looking at: the domain architectures, the levels of the Architecture Landscape, architecture states, and capability.
Domain Architecture Terms
| Term | TOGAF definition | Plain-language meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Business Architecture | A representation of holistic, multi-dimensional business views of capabilities, end-to-end value delivery, information, and organizational structure; and the relationships among these business views and strategies, products, policies, processes, initiatives, and stakeholders | How the business is organized to deliver value: what it can do, how value flows, what information it needs, and who does the work — and how those relate to strategy and change |
| Data Architecture | A description of the structure of the enterprise's major types and sources of data, logical data assets, physical data assets, and data management resources | What data the enterprise has, where it comes from, how it is structured logically and physically, and how it is managed |
| Application Architecture | A description of the structure and interaction of the applications that provide key business capabilities and manage the data assets | Which applications exist, how they interact, and which capabilities and data they support |
| Technology Architecture | A description of the structure and interaction of the technology services and technology components | The infrastructure services and components (hardware, software, networks, cloud) that applications and data run on |
Memory Aid
Notice the verbs. Business Architecture is a representation of business views; Data, Application, and Technology Architecture are each a description of structure (with interaction for applications and technology). The Business Architecture definition is the one that mentions capabilities, value delivery, information, and organizational structure.
Architecture Landscape and Its Levels
| Term | TOGAF definition | Plain-language meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture Landscape | The architectural representation of assets in use, or planned, by the enterprise at particular points in time | The collection of architecture descriptions showing what exists or is planned, at different times |
| Strategic Architecture | A summary formal description of the enterprise, providing an organizing framework for operational and change activity, and an executive-level, long-term view for direction setting | The big-picture, whole-enterprise architecture used by executives to set direction |
| Segment Architecture | A detailed, formal description of areas within an enterprise, used at the program or portfolio level to organize and align change activity | A more detailed architecture for an area of the enterprise, used by program and portfolio managers |
| Capability Architecture | An architecture that describes the abilities that an enterprise possesses | A detailed architecture focused on delivering or improving particular abilities of the enterprise |
The glossary also defines an Architecture Level: levels "provide a framework for dividing the Architecture Landscape into levels of granularity," and levels are distinct from architecture partitions.
Telling the Levels Apart
| Clue in the question | Level |
|---|---|
| "Summary," "whole enterprise," "executive-level," "long-term view for direction setting" | Strategic Architecture |
| "Areas within an enterprise," "program or portfolio level," "organize and align change activity" | Segment Architecture |
| "Abilities that an enterprise possesses," detailed support for a particular capability | Capability Architecture |
Architecture States
| Term | TOGAF definition | Plain-language meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Transition Architecture | A formal description of one state of the architecture at an architecturally significant point in time. One or more Transition Architectures may be used to describe the progression in time from the Baseline to the Target Architecture | An intermediate, stable state between today and the target |
Related glossary terms help you place it:
- Baseline — a specification that has been formally reviewed and agreed upon, that thereafter serves as the basis for further development or change, and that can be changed only through formal change control or configuration management.
- Target Architecture — the description of a future state of the architecture being developed; several future states may be developed as a roadmap to the target.
The 10th Edition also discusses practitioners managing multiple architecture states — candidate (developed but not yet approved to govern change), current (baseline), transition (partially realized targets), and target (what stakeholders have approved). A good practice is to architect to value resting states: states where the enterprise receives value even if all change activity is suspended.
Capability
| Term | TOGAF definition | Plain-language meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | An ability that an organization, person, or system possesses | What someone or something is able to do |
The note on the definition says this is general-purpose. For Business Architecture, TOGAF refines it as a Business Capability: "a particular ability that a business may possess or exchange to achieve a specific purpose." A Capability Increment is "a discrete portion of a capability architecture that delivers specific value"; when all increments are complete, the capability has been realized.
Distinguishing "Capability" Terms
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Capability | Any ability of an organization, person, or system |
| Business Capability | A particular ability a business may possess or exchange for a specific purpose |
| Capability Architecture | An architecture describing the abilities an enterprise possesses (a landscape level) |
| Architecture Capability | The enterprise's ability to perform architecture — structures, roles, skills, processes (Section 2.4) |
Worked Example
A national railway operator is modernizing ticketing:
- The Strategic Architecture shows the whole operator's direction: digital-first customer channels over five to ten years.
- A Segment Architecture describes the passenger services area and organizes the portfolio of ticketing, journey planning, and loyalty programs.
- A Capability Architecture details the "sell tickets through mobile channels" ability.
- The Baseline is today's approved ticketing architecture; Transition Architecture 1 adds mobile ticketing while station machines remain; the Target Architecture retires paper tickets.
- Business Architecture views show the value stream from journey planning to travel; Data Architecture covers fare and customer data; Application Architecture covers the ticketing and payment applications; Technology Architecture covers the cloud and payment-network services.
Common Exam Pitfalls
- Swapping Segment and Strategic. Strategic is the executive, long-term summary of the enterprise; Segment is a detailed description of areas used at program or portfolio level.
- Confusing levels with partitions. Levels divide the landscape by granularity; partitions divide architecture to make it easier to develop and manage.
- Treating a Transition Architecture as a project milestone. It is a formal description of one architecture state at an architecturally significant point in time.
- Mixing up Capability Architecture and Architecture Capability. The first is a type of architecture; the second is the organizational ability to do architecture.
Which TOGAF definition describes a Segment Architecture?
Which term does TOGAF define as "the architectural representation of assets in use, or planned, by the enterprise at particular points in time"?
Which statement matches the TOGAF definition of a Transition Architecture?
How does the TOGAF Standard define Technology Architecture in its glossary?