Target Architecture - Introduction

Overview

Overview

Technical architecture design happens in Phase B, in which the existing system is described, and Phase C, which builds up the target architecture.  Phase C is expanded in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2: Target Architecture Development

The boxes and ovals in Figure 2 are color-coded as follows:

• green boxes represent inputs to the target architecture development process from earlier phases in the architecture development cycle. This implies that some previous implementation exists for which an architecture may or may not have been defined previously.
• yellow boxes represent inputs to the process from TOGAF.
• white boxes represent inputs and outputs internal to the target architecture development process.
• blue boxes represent outputs to later phases in the architecture development cycle.
• gray ovals represent phases within the target architecture development process.

It is possible that an organization creating or adapting an architecture already mandates use of a list of approved suppliers / products for that organization. Such a list would be an input to the definition of the organization specific architectural framework as shown in Figure 2. The architectures can then be used as procurement tools to govern future growth and development of the organization's IT infrastructure.

The steps outlined in Figure 2 are expanded in the following subsections, and a quick reference table for the whole target architecture development process can be found under Tools for Architecture Development.

Step 1: Create baseline description in TOGAF format

Copyright © The Open Group, 1998, 1999, 2001