TOGAF 10: Why Every Enterprise Needs Its Own Metamodel for Architecture Styles

Enterprises differ in their architectural concerns — focus areas, forms, technologies, deliverables, themes, and time horizons. TOGAF 10 is a generic, flexible, and extensible framework designed to adapt to multiple architectural styles. An enterprise's architecture blueprint may contain work developed under several styles, and TOGAF ensures each stakeholder's needs are addressed in the context of other stakeholders and baseline architectures.

When using TOGAF to support a specific architectural style, architects must consider the particular combination of characteristics that define how architecture is executed or expressed. The process involves two key steps:

Identify the unique characteristics of the style.

Determine how to address those characteristics. This should not require major changes to the TOGAF framework itself; instead, architects adjust the models, viewpoints, and tools they use.

During Phases B, C, and D of the Architecture Development Method (ADM), architects select relevant architecture resources — including models, viewpoints, and tools — to correctly describe each architecture domain and demonstrate that stakeholder concerns are addressed.

Depending on the unique characteristics, different architectural styles will:

Add new elements that need description

Emphasize existing elements

Adjust the notation used to describe architecture

Shift architect attention toward certain stakeholders or their concerns

Addressing these unique characteristics typically involves extending the architecture content metamodel, employing specific notations or modeling techniques, and following a process for identifying viewpoints. As the author summarizes: "Every enterprise should have its own metamodel and architecture content framework."

The article references the TOGAF 10 standard as its primary source.