How do you keep your architecture capability up to date with the latest trends and innovations using TOGAF?

"The shoemaker's son always goes barefoot." To avoid this in your enterprise architecture, assess your Architecture Capability Framework within the Business Architecture. Ensure that your ADM and capabilities consistently deliver value to customers. Application, data, and technology architectures are essential in shaping your EA ecosystem. They define the technology to manage the EA Content Framework/Repository, supporting the Architecture Capability Framework in meeting EA Goals/OKRs. Identify opportunities and plan migrations to address gaps and requirements. Develop a roadmap that emphasizes governance and change management to implement BDAT enhancements smoothly, keeping your architecture capability aligned with your strategic goals.

In addition, starting with creating a reference architecture for the enterprise that includes the building blocks of various other solution architecture blocks is key. This model has to be built by first defining the guiding principles of your enterprise. This reference model will then serve as a roadmap on how all the architecture are interdependent on each other. This reference model will be your blueprint that will contain : security, cloud components, middleware, data, and allow architect’s from various areas to quickly understand how the enterprise functions at large that includes all solutions components in one place.

In my experience, Centers of Excellence for various technologies that are part of the enterprise technology capabilities that have been standardized is a good place to start. Creating a repository of standardized design patterns, the differences, prescriptive guidance on when to use what technology for innovation is key. For example - chatbots and low code tools like Kore.io, OutSystems, Workato, SAP Build Process Automation, SAP Build Apps etc in conjunction with openai api can create new opportunities to enhance to leverage artificial intelligence solutions rapidly into your enterprise.

Using a Togaf friendly open standard like Archimate for modeling the designs will allow architects to easily model various layers of your architecture- application, infrastructure, security, data etc. in a standard model. I have seen attempts from some of our clients to use features like macro scripting to automatically evaluate designs against standards they have developed to approve new greenfield design and development.

Efficient governance requires compliance management that is auditable, flexible, and collaborative. Auditability in compliance measure the status of compliance reviews and exception management. Exception management takes two forms. The first is determination if the exception is a risk or an improvement. Risks must be tracked with a plan to achieve compliance. Improvements need to result in either a revision or an addition to the Architecture Repository. Once added to the repository, the impact to existing capabilities must be assessed and a plan put into action to manage that impact. The management could require a review of all systems or simply be folded into the standard review process as systems are added or enhanced.

It’s important to not adopt new technologies from third party vendors that may look innovative today but may cause technical debt in the future. It’s also important for an architecture board not be viewed as just a bottleneck or process that slows down innovations. To that end the board can own creating methods and kpis to measure the organization innovation. Some interesting ways to enable this: End to end innovation campaign management incl. Challenges, Hackathons etc. ? Manage, track and measure Ideation campaigns through selecting the right Innovation management platform ?Help create the Rapid prototype/MVP with justified investment supporting business requirements and sponsorship

Innovation is not limited to use cases in artificial intelligence or RPA etc. it’s part of a culture that allows it’s to become infectious through constant learning paths and opportunities for organizations to understand where the leading edge is in technology that can really create value in their systems be by new technologies or just optimizing their existing systems.