Real (Past) Exams Questions

Question 1

There are two meanings of Architecture.

Please name and describe them.

Answer 1

• Architecture as Product
  
  • The fundamental organization of a system, embodied in its components, their relationships to each other and the environment.
  • EA is the sum of all structures and artifacts that together provide a view of the enterprise as a whole. EA is to describe current & desired states, related to this “product” aspect.
• Architecture as the Art and Science of Designing
  
  • The principles governing its (the system) design and evolution.
  • EAM (methodology) is the use of models, frameworks, principles and viewpoints by architects and stakeholders in order to strategically govern business and technology in an integrated, IT suported manner with the aim of describing the current and desired state of the enterprise and transforming it as a response to internal and external challenges. Related to the “art and science of designing” aspect.

Question 2

Explain the general EAM Framework introduced in the lecture, including all elements and their relationships.

Answer 2

• Stakeholders: others, sponsoring (use viewpoints)
• Architects: execute and govern transformation of the enterprise (use frameworks and create models)
• Frameworks: support the creation of views/models and viewpoints and principles.
• Views/Models: depict the enterprise. Representation of reality for a certain purpose. Subjective modeler selects relevant details.
  
  • Viewpoints guide architects in creating purposeful views. Can include languages, notation, model kinds, design rules and methods.
  • View is what you see, viewpoint is from where you are looking.
• Principles: guide enterprise and guides the creation of views/models. Enduring and seldom modified, inform and support the way in which an organization sets about fulfilling its mission.
• Enterprise

Question 3

There are two purposes of EA Frameworks.

Name and explain both.

Answer 3

1) Conceptual: Structuring. A framework is “a logical structure for classifying and organizing complex information” (Zachman).

2) Operational: Methodological Guidance. A framework “provides the guidance and rules for developing, representing and understanding architectures” (TOGAF).

Question 4

Name and explain each dimension for the scoping of architecture work.

Answer 4

The scope of what is included in the architecture, encompasses 4 dimensions:

1. Enterprise Scope: (what is really needed). Focus on a business sector, function, organization, greographical area, etc.
2. Architecture Domains: (complete EA = business + application + technology). Not all domains are always required on every project.
3. Vertical Scope: (leve of detail depending on intended usage). Not detailed enough = not useful, too detailed = using much resources and confusing.
4. Time Horizon: (architecture at a certain point in time). Enterprises move through intermediate states.

Question 5

Name each phase of the TOGAF ADM [ADM circles].

Which phase has two sub­phases? Name the sub­phases.

(There are 10 phases, 2 subphases and overall 4 groups).

Answer 5

1. Architecture Context Iteration
   
   • Preliminary
   • Architecture Vision
2. Architecture Definition Iteration
   
   • ​Business Architecture
   • Information Systems Architecture
     
     • Data Architecture
     • Application Architecture
   • Technology Architecture
3. Transition Planning Iteration
   
   • Opportunities and Solution
   • Migration Planning
4. ​Architecture Governance Iteration
   
   • Implementation Governance
   • Architecture Change Management

• Center: Requirements Management

Question 6

Name the four basic items of a principle according to TOGAF.

For each item, name one aspect to keep in mind while formulating it.

Answer 6

Principles need to be understandable for a wider audience and need to be clearly specified (at least) with:​

• Name: easy to remember
• Statement: should cover the essence of the principle, as an active statement in present tense and unambiguous.
• Rationale: motivate the reason of its existence (benefits).
• Implication: desired state when enforcing the principle, state major consequences of adopting such principle (positive and negative ones).

Question 7

Draw a general Gap analysis matrix and explain its structure.

Answer 7

Gap analyses are an indispensable part of enterprise transformation as they reveal the differences between the As-Is and To-Be states:

Architecture elements that must be created Architecture elements that are discarded.

• To-Be (X axis) + Eliminated services
• As-Is (Y axis) + New services

Question 8

Draw the stakeholder matrix (Mendelow’s matrix) introduced in the lecture.

Label the axes and name each quadrant.

Answer 8

Each type of stakeholder has its specific need for insight, control and overview. Stakeholders have to be integrated in communication processes to inform them about changes and to get an evaluation of the expected impact on their domain.

• Quadrants:
  
  • Keep satisfied
  • Key players
  • ​​Minimal effort
  • Keep informed
  • ​Axis:
    
    • ​Y: Low->High Power
    • X: Level of interest

Question 9

Name and describe three of the four major elements of the TOGAF framework.

Answer 9

1. Architecture Capability Framework
   
   • ​​Regards the organization , process, skills, roles and responsibilities required to establish and operate and architecture function within an enterprise.
2. ​ADM = Architecture Development Method
   
   • ​​Interative approach to develop an architecture. ADM can be adapted. Core of TOGAF. “Describes what needs to be done to create an Architecture”.
     
     • ADM Guidelines and Techniques: For use in applying TOGAF and the ADM.
3. ACF = Architecture Content Framework
   
   • ​​ACF describes “how the architecture work products (output of ADM by an architect) should look like”.
   • Allows the major work products that an architect creates to be consistently defined, structured and presented (e.g. process flows, architectural requirements, project plans, etc.)
4. Enterprise Continuum and Tools
   
   • ​Provides a view on the architecture repository that shows the evolution of the (sub-)architectures from generic to specific, from abstract to concrete and from logical to physical.
     
     • TOGAF Reference Models: contains
       
       1. The Technical Reference Model (TRM) which provides generic services and functions as a foundation to build specific architectures and architectural components
       2. Integrated Information Infrastructure Reference Model (III-RM) which addresses the need to design an integrated Information Infrastructure to enable a “boundary-less information flow”.

Question 10

Name and describe three aspects in which capabilities and services differ.

Answer 10

COA and SOA are not contradictory, just different viewpoints. They can differ in:

• Questions they address:
  
  • ​Capability: WHAT?
  • Service: HOW?
• Origin:
  
  • ​Capability: Strategic Management
  • Service: Process & IT Management
• Address(ed) people:
  
  • ​Capability: Top level management
  • Service: Architects
• View of the Enterprise:
  
  • ​Capability: Black Box
  • Service: White Box

(see picture).

Question 11

Describe the purpose of EA maturity as introduced in the lecture.

Answer 11

1. Find appropiate (Architecture) Governance
2. Lead to the next level of EA Maturity

Question 12

Name the four functionalities of EA tools.

Answer 12

1. Design and Modeling
2. Analysis
3. Visualization and Publication
4. Repository Management

Question 13

Argue about the correct way of creating/using viewpoints, using the “Guidelines for using viewpoints” introduced in the lecture

Answer 13

1. Scoping
2. Creation of views
3. Validation
4. (If applicable) Obtain commitment
5. Informing