The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) and the U.S. Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF)

Numerous architecture framework standards have been developed and matured over the past decade. But the focus of these frameworks is sometimes wildly diverse. Many engineers believe there is an "either or" decision to be made regarding the frameworks, but this is not always the case. Some of these standards address completely different elements of the architecting process, thus there may be a natural synergy that can be identified and leveraged between architecture frameworks. The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) has a primary focus on architecting methodology—the "how to" aspect of architecture, without prescribing architecture description constructs. The U.S. Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF) has a primary focus on architecture description via a set of views, without specifying methodology. An industry working group was formed to analyze and document the relationships between these two frameworks and identify complementary areas between the two. This core group of representatives from Raytheon, MITRE, and Architecting-the-Enterprise was also supported by members of The Open Group Architecture Forum during this effort. The baseline versions of the documents used were TOGAF Version 8.1 and DoDAF Version 1.0.