02_Architecture Content Framework (ACF) Flashcards
What is the Architecture Content Framework (ACF) about?
- The ACF provides a detailed model of architectural work products.
- It helps to improve the consistency of TOGAF outputs.
- The framework has three categories for describing work products.
- The Content Metamodel consists of core and extensions.
What is a metamodel?
A model that describes how and with what the architecture will be described in a structured way.
The Core Content Metamodel can be extended to meet the modelling requirements of an organizations through the use of extensions.
What are the benefits of the Content Metamodel?
Benefits of the Content Metamodel are:
- It formalizes the definition of an Enterprise Architecture
- It formalizes the relationship between architectural work products.
- It enables an EA-Tool mapping.
What is the TOGAF architecture is based on?
A TOGAF architecture is based on catalogs, matrices and diagrams
- Defining architectural building blocks within architecture catalogs
- Specifying the relationships between those building blocks in architecture matrices
- Presenting communication diagrams that show in a precise way what the architecture is
How is the metamodel structured?
The metamodel is structured into Core and Extension content
- The Core provides a minimum set of architectural content to support traceability across artifacts and should not be altered.
- The Extension content allows for more specific or more in-depth modeling and supports many scenarios
What are extensions of the core metamodel?
- Governance extensions - to support in-dept operational governance and is intended to allow additional structured data to be held against objectives and business services.
- Service extensions - to support definition of discrete business & application services and is intended to allow more sophisticated modelling of the service portfolio by creating a concept of IS Services in addition to the core concept of Business Services.
- Process modelling extensions - to support process modeling and extension is intended to allow detailed modelling of process flows by adding events, products and controls to the metamodel.
- Data extensions - to support data modeling and is intended to include the concept of an Data Component. Data Components form a Logical or Physical encapsulation of abstract Data Entities into units that can be governed and deployed into applications.
- infrastructure consolidation extensions - to support consolidation of applications & technology across locations and is intended to be used in landscapes where the application and technology portfolios have become fragmented and the architecture seeks to consolidate the business as usual capability into a smaller number of locations, applications or technology components.
- motivation extensions - to support linkage of drivers, goals, & objectives to organizations & services and is intended to allow additional structured modelling of the drivers, goals and objectives that influence an organization to provide business services to its customers.
What are Core Content Metamodel Entities?
- Actor
- Application Component
- Business Capability: a particular ability that a business may possess or exchange to achieve a specific purpose
- Business Service: supports business capabilities through an explicitly defined interface and is explicitly governed by an organization
- Course of Action
- Data Entity
- Function: Delivers business capabilities closely aligned to an
organization, but not explicitly governed by the organization. - Information System Service: The automated elements of a business service. An information system service may deliver or support all of one or more business services.
- Organization Unit
- Role
- Technology Component
- Technology Service
- Value Stream
What are Core Content Metamodel Relationships?
- Process should normally be used to describe flow.
- Function describes units of business capability at all levels of granularity.
- Business services support organizational objectives and are defined at a level of granularity consistent with the level of governance needed.
- Business services are deployed onto application components.
- Application components are deployed onto technology components.
What ist Architecture Content Framework (ACF) about?
The Architecture Content Framework is a tool that will ensure consistency and traceability within the ADM and also to provide guidance for organizations that wish to implement their architecture within an architecture tool.
- Defines a set of entities that allow architectural concepts to be captured, stored, filtered, queried, and represented in a way that supports consistency, completeness, and traceability.
- The ACF provides a structured mechanism for organizing the content that is produced during the ADM. The ACF defines architectural content into three categories Deliverables, Artefacts and Building Blocks.
- The ADM describes what needs to be done to create an architecture and the Content Framework describes what the architecture should look like once it is done.
- The ACF is a Enterprise Architecture Framework that can be used with delivery methods such as the ADM.
What is the relation between ADM & ACF?
The ADM and ACF can be used together to delivery and define architectures, but are mutually exclusive and can stand-alone and/or be used with other EA Frameworks or Delivery Methods that require architectural outputs/inputs.
The ACF is a stand-alone framework for the architectural content within an enterprise.
What are elements of the ACF?
Architecture Content Framework uses Deliverables, Artefacts and Building Blocks for creating, updating, reusing and maintaining architectural content.
- A Deliverable is a work product that is contractually specified, formally reviewed, agreed, and signed off.
- An Artifact is created in order to describe a system, solution, or state of the enterprise.
- A Building Block represents a (potentially re-usable) component of business, IT, or architectural capability that can be combined with other building blocks to deliver architectures and solutions.
How is the ACF classified?
Building Blocks, Catalogs, Matrices and Diagrams are concepts used to structure and communicate architecture in an orderly way.
- Catalogs are lists of building blocks of a specific type, or of related types, that are used for governance or reference purposes. As with building blocks, catalogs carry metadata according to the metamodel, which supports query and analysis.
- Matrices are grids that show relationships between two or more model entities. Matrices are used to represent relationships that are list-based rather than graphical in their usage.
- Diagrams are renderings of architectural content in a graphical format to allow stakeholders to retrieve the required information. Diagrams can also be used as a technique for graphically populating architecture content or for checking the completeness of information that has been collected.
Name Phase A Artifacts
- Stakeholder Map Matrix
- Value Chain Diagram
- Solution Concept Diagram
- Business Model Diagram
- Business Capability Map
- Value Stream Map
Name Phase D Artifacts
- Technology Standard Catalog
- Technology Portfolio Catalog
- Application/Technology Matrix
- Environments and Locations Diagram
- Platform Decomposition Diagram
- Processing Diagram
- Networked Computing / Hardware Diagram
- Network and Communication Diagram
Name Phase E Artifacts
- Project Context Diagram
- Benefit Diagram
