Key Terminology Flashcards
Application Architecture
A description of the structure and interaction of the applications as groups of capabilities that
provide key business functions and manage the data assets.
Architectural Style
The combination of distinctive features related to the specific context within which architecture
is performed or expressed; a collection of principles and characteristics that steer or constrain
how an architecture is formed.
Architecture
- The fundamental concepts or properties of a system in its environment embodied in its
elements, relationships, and in the principles of its design and evolution. - The structure of components, their inter-relationships, and the principles and guidelines
governing their design and evolution over time
Architecture Building Block (ABB)
A constituent of the architecture model that describes a single aspect of the overall model.
Architecture Continuum
A part of the Enterprise Continuum. A repository of architectural elements with increasing detail
and specialization.
Note: This Continuum begins with foundational definitions such as reference models, core
strategies, and basic building blocks. From there it spans to Industry Architectures and all the
way to an organization’s specific architecture
Architecture Development Method (ADM)
The core of the TOGAF framework. A multi-phase, iterative approach to develop and use an
Enterprise Architecture to shape and govern business transformation and implementation
projects.
Architecture Domain
The architectural area being considered. The TOGAF framework has four primary architecture
domains within the TOGAF standard: Business, Data, Application, and Technology. Other
domains may also be considered (e.g., Security)
Architecture Framework
A conceptual structure used to plan, develop, implement, govern, and sustain an architecture.
Architecture Governance
The practice of monitoring and directing architecture-related work. The goal is to deliver desired
outcomes and adhere to relevant principles, standards, and roadmaps
Architecture Principle
A qualitative statement of intent that should be met by the architecture.
Architecture View
A representation of a system from the perspective of a related set of concerns.
Note: View is sometimes used as a synonym for Architecture View.
Architecture Viewpoint
A specification of the conventions for a particular kind of architecture view.
Note: Viewpoint is sometimes used as a synonym for Architecture Viewpoint.
Architecture Vision
A succinct description of the Target Architecture that describes its business value and the
changes to the enterprise that will result from its successful deployment. It serves as an
aspirational vision and a boundary for detailed architecture developmen
Artifact
An architectural work product that describes an aspect of the architecture.
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 procedures or a type of procedure such as configuration management.
Building Block
A (potentially re-usable) component of enterprise capability that can be combined with other
building blocks to deliver architectures and solutions.
Note: Building blocks can be defined at various levels of detail, depending on what stage of
architecture development has been reached. For instance, at an early stage, a building block can
simply consist of a name or an outline description. Later on, a building block may be
decomposed into multiple supporting building blocks and may be accompanied by a full
specification. Building blocks can relate to “architectures” or “solutions”
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, initiatives, and stakeholders.
Business Capability
A particular ability that a business may possess or exchange to achieve a specific purpose
Business Governance
Concerned with ensuring that the business processes and policies (and their operation) deliver
the business outcomes and adhere to relevant business regulation.
Capability
An ability that an organization, person, or system possesses.
Concern
An interest in a system relevant to one or more of its stakeholders
Course of Action
Direction and focus provided by strategic goals and objectives, often to deliver the value
proposition characterized in the business model.
Data Architecture
A description of the structure and interaction of the enterprise’s major types and sources of data,
logical data assets, physical data assets, and data management resources.
Deliverable
An architectural work product that is contractually specified and in turn formally reviewed,
agreed, and signed off by the stakeholders.
Note: Deliverables represent the output of projects and those deliverables that are in
documentation form will typically be archived at completion of a project, or transitioned into an
Architecture Repository as a reference model, standard, or snapshot of the Architecture
Landscape at a point in time
Enterprise
The highest level (typically) of description of an organization and typically covers all missions
and functions. An enterprise will often span multiple organizations.
Enterprise Continuum
A categorization mechanism useful for classifying architecture and solution artifacts, both
internal and external to the Architecture Repository, as they evolve from generic Foundation
Architectures to Organization-Specific Architectures.
Foundation Architecture
Generic building blocks, their inter-relationships with other building blocks, combined with the
principles and guidelines that provide a foundation on which more specific architectures can be
built.
Gap
A statement of difference between two states. Used in the context of gap analysis, where the
difference between the Baseline and Target Architecture is identified.
Governance
The discipline of monitoring, managing, and steering a business (or IS/IT landscape) to deliver
the business outcome required.
Information
Any communication or representation of facts, data, or opinions, in any medium or form,
including textual, numerical, graphic, cartographic, narrative, or audio-visual
Information Technology (IT)
- The lifecycle management of information and related technology used by an organization.
- An umbrella term that includes all or some of the subject areas relating to the computer
industry, such as Business Continuity, Business IT Interface, Business Process Modeling
and Management, Communication, Compliance and Legislation, Computers, Content
Management, Hardware, Information Management, Internet, Offshoring, Networking,
Programming and Software, Professional Issues, Project Management, Security, Standards,
Storage, Voice and Data Communications. Various countries and industries employ other
umbrella terms to describe this same collection. - A term commonly assigned to a department within an organization tasked with
provisioning some or all of the domains described in (2) above. - Alternate names commonly adopted include Information Services, Information
Management, etc.
Logical (Architecture)
An implementation-independent definition of the architecture, often grouping related physical
entities according to their purpose and structure; for example, the products from multiple
infrastructure software vendors can all be logically grouped as Java®
application server
platforms
Metadata
Data about data, of any sort in any media, that describes the characteristics of an entity
Metamodel
A model that describes how and with what the architecture will be described in a structured way.
Method
A defined, repeatable approach to address a particular type of problem
Modeling
A technique through construction of models which enables a subject to be represented in a form
that enables reasoning, insight, and clarity concerning the essence of the subject matter.
Objective
A time-bounded milestone for an organization used to demonstrate progress towards a goal; for
example, “Increase Capacity Utilization by 30% by the end of 2019 to support the planned
increase in market share”.
Physical
A description of a real-world entity. Physical elements in an Enterprise Architecture may still be
considerably abstracted from Solution Architecture, design, or implementation views.
Reference Model (RM)
A reference model is an abstract framework for understanding significant relationships among
the entities of [an] environment, and for the development of consistent standards or
specifications supporting that environment.
Repository
A system that manages all of the data of an enterprise, including data and process models and
other enterprise information.
Requirement
A statement of need that must be met by a particular architecture or work package.
Segment Architecture
A detailed, formal description of areas within an enterprise, used at the program or portfolio
level to organize and align change activity.
Service
- A repeatable activity; a discrete behavior that a building block may be requested or
otherwise triggered to perform. - An element of behavior that provides specific functionality in response to requests from
actors or other services
Solution Architecture
A description of a discrete and focused business operation or activity and how IS/IT supports
that operation.
Note: A Solution Architecture typically applies to a single project or project release, assisting in
the translation of requirements into a solution vision, high-level business and/or IT system
specifications, and a portfolio of implementation tasks
Solution Building Block
A candidate solution which conforms to an Architecture Building Block (ABB).
Solutions Continuum
A part of the Enterprise Continuum. A repository of re-usable solutions for future
implementation efforts. It contains implementations of the corresponding definitions in the
Architecture Continuum
Stakeholder
An individual, team, organization, or class thereof, having an interest in a system.
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.
Target Architecture
The description of a future state of the architecture being developed for an organization.
Note: There may be several future states developed as a roadmap to show the evolution of the
architecture to a target state.
Technical Reference Model (TRM)
A structure which allows the components of an information system to be described in a
consistent manner.
Technology Architecture
A description of the structure and interaction of the technology services and technology
components.
Transition Architecture
A formal description of one state of the architecture at an architecturally significant point in
time.
Note: One or more Transition Architectures may be used to describe the progression in time
from the Baseline to the Target Architecture.
Value Stream
A representation of an end-to-end collection of value-adding activities that create an overall
result for a customer, stakeholder, or end user
Viewpoint Library
A collection of the specifications of architecture viewpoints contained in the Reference Library
portion of the Architecture Repository.
Architecture Landscape
The Architecture Landscape presents an architectural representation of assets in use, or
planned, by the enterprise at particular points in time
Solution Landscape
The Solutions Landscape presents an architectural representation of the SBBs supporting
the Architecture Landscape which have been planned or deployed by the enterprise
The Standards Information Base
The Standards Information Base is a repository area that holds a record of the set of
specifications, to which architectures must conform
