“The Open Group Architecture Framework” or TOGAF is an enterprise architecture framework developed by “The Open Group” in 1995.
This is designed to help large enterprises achieve development goals in a quick and cost-effective manner by defining a clear set of rules on organizational development.
The framework guides enterprises on how to create, interpret, analyze and make use of different elements with a single strategy. A clearly defined terminology enables simple communication between the departments and reduces the chances of errors considerably.
Organizations across the world use the TOGAF Standard, Version 9.2, to improve business efficiency. The open group TOGAF Certification Program has allowed many Enterprise Architects and trainers to demonstrate their proven knowledge of frameworks.
Let us dive deep into what TOGAF 9.2 certification is all about and how you can achieve it.
TOGAF Certification
TOGAF Certification is used by enterprises to certify a common body of core knowledge about the methodology and framework. The TOGAF Standard, Version 9.2, is the latest version that offers improved guidance with enhancements to the Business Architecture and Content Metamodel.
TOGAF certification is vendor-neutral as in unbiased business practices with broad compatibility and interchangeability of products and technologies.
It is valuable in demonstrating your commitment to enterprise architecture as a discipline to employers and peers. It can prove to be an outstanding career move and a foundational certification in the career of any Enterprise Architect.
TOGAF Certification helps you understand the reason behind every element of the structure. It helps organizations gain a deep understanding of their IT infrastructure along with the understanding of collaboration that exists among teams.
With the thorough knowledge of the infrastructure, organizations can restructure and improve usage, remove redundancies significantly, and increase effectiveness.
There are mainly two levels in TOGAF Certification offered by The Open Group:
Level 1 or Foundation: this includes the basic principles of enterprise architecture and brief contents of TOGAF.
Level 2: This level provides a working knowledge of TOGAF and all the relevant technology, tools and concepts.
What do TOGAF Certified Professionals Do?
A TOGAF Certified Professional helps organizations to simplify their complex technical processes and architectures, and make them easy to understand even for non-technical managers.
Developers and IT professionals get TOGAF Certified to help master the principles of Enterprise Architecture and make their career move to architect and senior architect positions. Enterprise Architects or EAs, advance the organization’s long term IT strategy that supports the overall business strategy.
They are the one who plans further technical steps and applications to direct the organization based on TOGAF standards for technology infrastructure. EAs make sure that all aspects of technological flow are defined and that IT and IT-enabled processes run without errors from beginning to an end.
EAs work on transformational programs across various portfolios, managing a number of different meetings and projects, which may include:
- Architecture Strategy: all the aspects of IT architecture strategy that includes determining the current state, transition, and desired path for the strategy.
- Architecture Review Boards: a periodic meeting of stakeholders who discuss and approve changes to the current framework.
- Portfolio Management: as it pertains to the health and status of the IT infrastructure.
- Governance Committees: a committee of stakeholders that makes decisions on standards, policies, and protocols, especially about security and requirements.
- Technology Lifecycles: determines how the change and new version will be implemented for various technologies used by the organization.
In other words, TOGAF Certified professionals make sure that there is perfect alignment between an organization’s ideals and goals and aspects of IT.
Benefits of TOGAF Certification
- There is a high demand for Enterprise Architects with the integration of IT technology and architecture with the organization’s success.
- TOGAF Certified professionals share a common platform that allows you to work and collaborate with other TOGAF architects.
- This is a budget-friendly certification and ranges from $320 for the foundation course to $495 for both the courses.
- An IT environment is organized where you need to communicate with other professionals, so there is a common language that you all need to learn so as to interact without any language issues.
- Getting certified in TOGAF means that you learn on the platform where there are candidates of other professions too. You get networking opportunities and understand new trends in the industry and share ideas that could improve TOGAF principles.
- The professionals who wish to start their career in IT architecture can start from here easily because there are no prerequisites for taking the course.
There are benefits of TOGAF in organizations too, the main advantage being that the framework is customizable to meet an organization’s needs. To keep it future-proof the Open Group releases regular updates and versions.it provides improved flexibility as it is scalable.
As we have seen the benefits of TOGAF Certification, now let us find out how to achieve it.
How to achieve TOGAF Certification?
As mentioned earlier, there are no prerequisites for taking the TOGAF 9 Level 1 (Foundation) course. Anyone with any qualifications can take it. The entry-level qualification or TOGAF 9 Foundation is achieved by passing the first exam. The TOGAF 9 certification program applies to the 9.x releases of the TOGAF Standard. TOGAF 9 Level 2 exam requires you to first complete the Level1 course. In case of a failure, you can attempt it again after 30 days. However, only 3 attempts are allowed in a year.
The Open Group gives two badges to the individuals and trainers who want to specialize in a certain area or keep up to date. An Open Badge is available for both Certification Levels Foundation and Certified, and a supplemental badge is available to denote the version.
The TOGAF 9 certification does not require renewal.
To achieve this certification, one can either opt for self-study or take up an online training course.
Though self-studying through proper study material is a good option, it is highly recommended that you go for an accredited training course that gives you a hassle-free learning experience.
There are some reputed training providers whose courses are specifically tailored to suit a learner’s needs. They also strengthen your preparation to pass the TOGAF certification exam with much ease.
