The Open Group OGBA-101 - TOGAF Business Architecture Foundation Exam

Heat mapping is an analysis technique used in TOGAF to show a range of different perspectives on the same set of business capabilities. This technique involves visually representing data to highlight areas of importance or concern, such as performance levels, resource allocation, or risk exposure. Heat maps provide a clear and intuitive way to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats within the business capabilities, facilitating better decision-making and prioritization of improvement efforts.

In TOGAF ADM, Phase B is the Business Architecture phase where the architect should locate existing architecture descriptions to create an information map. This phase involves developing a detailed understanding of the business environment, including business processes, roles, and information flows. Existing architecture descriptions provide a baseline for identifying how information is currently managed and how it can be optimized to support business objectives.

In business capability mapping, once all business capabilities have been documented, the next step is to organize these capabilities logically. This organization helps in understanding how different capabilities interact and align with the business strategy. Here’s a detailed explanation based on TOGAF principles:

Business Capability Mapping:

Business capability mapping involves identifying and documenting the capabilities required to execute the business strategy. Capabilities are the building blocks of the business, representing what the business does.

Logical Organization:

Grouping and Categorization: Capabilities should be grouped and categorized logically to reflect their relationships and dependencies. This can be done by aligning capabilities with business functions, processes, or strategic objectives.

Hierarchical Structure: Organizing capabilities into a hierarchical structure helps in visualizing how high-level capabilities decompose into more specific, detailed capabilities. This hierarchical view aids in understanding the complexity and scope of capabilities.

Alignment with Strategy: Logical organization ensures that capabilities are aligned with the business strategy and objectives. It helps in identifying which capabilities are critical for achieving strategic goals and which ones need development or improvement.

TOGAF ADM References:

Phase B: Business Architecture: This phase involves developing the business architecture, including capability mapping. Organizing capabilities logically is a key step in this process, as it helps in creating a coherent and comprehensive business architecture.

Capability Models: TOGAF recommends using capability models to represent the organization’s capabilities. These models should be logically organized to facilitate analysis and planning.

Practical Steps:

Analyze Relationships: Examine the relationships between capabilities to identify dependencies and interactions. This analysis helps in grouping related capabilities together.

Create a Capability Map: Develop a visual representation of the capabilities, organized logically. This map serves as a reference for understanding the business architecture and planning initiatives.

In summary, after documenting all business capabilities, organizing them in a logical manner is essential for creating a coherent and effective business architecture. This logical organization facilitates better analysis, planning, and alignment with business strategy.

Role of Information Maps in TOGAFInformation maps are used to define and structure the key information concepts necessary for an organization’s operations. They organize information in a way that aligns with the organization’s business needs and are crucial for creating a robust information architecture.

Relationship Between Information Maps and Stakeholder MapsIn TOGAF and enterprise architecture practices, stakeholder maps play an essential role in defining information concepts because they identify the various stakeholders involved in or affected by the business operations. Understanding stakeholders and their interactions helps architects determine the types of information that are valuable to each stakeholder group. This understanding aids in structuring the information map to meet the specific needs and requirements of each stakeholder.

As per TOGAF guidance, if an organization already has a stakeholder map, it can serve as a valuable tool for identifying the information concepts required by different stakeholders. This allows architects to tailor the information architecture to align with the interests, roles, and responsibilities of stakeholders, which directly impacts the organization’s information needs.

Why Stakeholder Map is the Correct Answer

Stakeholder maps provide insights into the information needs of various stakeholders, helping to define information concepts within the information map.

By referencing a stakeholder map, architects can identify the key information flows, data requirements, and access needs of each stakeholder, ensuring that the information map is comprehensive and aligned with actual usage.

This alignment with stakeholder needs ensures that the information architecture supports the organization’s objectives by delivering relevant information to each party involved.

Why Other Options are Less Suitable:

Option B (Value Streams):Value streams focus on the high-level flow of activities that deliver value but do not directly inform the structure of information concepts.

Option C (Statement of Business Goals and Drivers):While business goals and drivers provide strategic direction, they do not specifically define information concepts in the same way that understanding stakeholder needs does.

Option D (Organization Map):An organization map helps in understanding roles and responsibilities within the enterprise but does not directly influence the definition of information concepts in the same manner as a stakeholder map.

Conclusion:

The correct answer is A. Stakeholder Map because it directly helps define information concepts in an information map by clarifying the information needs of each stakeholder group.

References:

TOGAF® Standard, Version 9.2, Stakeholder Mapping and Information Mapping Techniques

TOGAF Business Architecture Guide, sections on Information Maps and Stakeholder Maps

TOGAF defines an “Enterprise” as any collection of organizations or alliances working toward shared goals, such as in consortiums or partnerships. This scope allows the architecture to address cross-organization processes and infrastructures for collaborative endeavors.

References: TOGAF Standard, Definition of an Enterprise.

TOGAF defines an Enterprise as any collection of organizations that has a common set of goals. This definition is intentionally broad and can encompass various types of entities, including:

Single organizations: A traditional company or corporation with a unified structure and goals.

Groups of organizations: This could include:

Public sector: Government agencies, military branches, or international collaborations like the United Nations.

Private sector: Consortiums, industry alliances, supply chains, or joint ventures where multiple businesses work together towards shared objectives.

The key characteristic of an enterprise is the shared set of goals that drives its activities and architecture.

The diagram provided illustrates a Capability Map. Here's why:

Focus on "what" the organization does: The diagram depicts various functions and activities that the organization performs, such as "Program/Human Resource Matching," "Employee Supply and Demand Mgmt," "Benefits Management," etc. These represent the capabilities of the organization, or what it is able to do.

Hierarchical structure: The capabilities are organized hierarchically, with broader functions like "HR Mgmt." encompassing more specific capabilities like "Position Advertising" and "Skills Assessment." This shows how different capabilities relate to each other and contribute to higher-level functions.

No specific process flow: Unlike a process map or value stream map, this diagram doesn't show a sequence of steps or flow of activities. It focuses on the capabilities themselves, not how they are executed

The diagram shows the Enterprise Continuum, which is a view of the Architecture Repository that provides methods for classifying architecture and solution artifacts as they evolve from generic Foundation Architectures to Organization-Specific Architectures4. The Enterprise Continuum comprises two complementary concepts: the Architecture Continuum and the Solutions Continuum. The Architecture Continuum shows the relationships among foundational frameworks, common system architectures, industry architectures, and enterprise architectures4. The Solutions Continuum shows the relationships among foundational solutions, common system solutions, industry solutions, and enterprise solutions4.

In the context of TOGAF and Business Architecture, the diagram depicts the relationship between a Value Stream, Value Stage, and Value.

Value Stream: Represents the end-to-end set of activities that create and deliver value to a stakeholder.

Value Stage: A distinct step or phase within the Value Stream.

Value: The benefit delivered to the stakeholder.

The relationship "X" indicates that a Value Stream is composed of multiple Value Stages.

Think of it like a journey (Value Stream) with multiple stops along the way (Value Stages). Each stage contributes to the overall value delivered at the end of the journey.