Features & Benefits

• Extends base TOGAF content in ATPL
  • Refines Implementation Governance phase of TOGAF ADM
• New major deliverables
  • Solution Delivery Recommendations
  • Solution Architecture Contract
  • Architecture Review Report
• New roles
  • Solution Architect
  • Architecture Review Lead
• Certified by The Open Group

Overview

ATPL+ Govern Solution Architectures (ATPL+GSA) is a method plugin in the APG TOGAF Process Library (ATPL) that refines the descriptive guidance found in Phase G: Implementation Governance of The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF™). Implementation governance is where the enterprise architecture (EA) lifecycle touches the solution delivery lifecycle as projects are launched to implement the target architecture.

ATPL+GSA specifies an overall workflow for implementation governance that includes three activities:

• Affirm Architecture Engagement
• Formulate Solution Delivery Recommendations
• Guide Solution Architecture Development

Each of these activities is further decomposed into a sequence of tasks performed by specific roles. ATPL+GSA includes a clear definition of two key roles – the Solution Architect and the Architecture Review Lead – plus many additional supporting roles.

The Solution Architect role enables organizations to clearly understand the responsibilities of this critical liaison between enterprise architecture and solution delivery. The Architecture Review Lead role provides an executive with a consistent mechanism for measuring solution delivery performance and compliance.

ATPL+GSA also identifies three major new deliverables (and over a dozen additional artifacts) including:

• Solution Architecture Contract
• Solution Delivery Recommendations
• Architecture Review Report

ATPL+GSA Workflow

Affirm Architecture Engagement
As an architecturally-significant project is initiated, the EA function should establish an understanding of how they will engage both the project sponsor and development team, called an “architecture contract” by TOGAF. This agreement clearly describes the nature of the collaboration between the project sponsors, the development team, and the architecture group.

Formulate Solution Delivery Recommendations
Early on in the solution delivery lifecycle (SDLC), the solution architect works with the enterprise architecture practice and the project team to describe where the project fits in the overall architecture landscape (see Figure 2 for detailed workflow). The solution architect formulates recommendations (see Figure 3) for the solution delivery project that describe:

• The project’s context in the EA roadmap,
• Any architecture requirements they are responsible for,
• Relevant architecture assets to use or create, and
• Any conformance requirements they are subject to.

Figure 2 Example detailed workflow and work breakdown structure (WBS) for the Formulate Solution Delivery Recommendation activity. Shows roles involved in each task and input/output work products for each task.

Figure 3 Elements of the Solution Delivery Recommendations provided by the Solution Architect which need to be integrated into the SDLC.

Guide Solution Architecture Development
The architecture compliance reviews and design reviews that the Architecture Review Lead facilitates are critical to providing executive management visibility into solution delivery performance. The Solution Architect (see Figure 4) also has an opportunity to examine first-hand the implications that enterprise architecture decisions have on individual projects. This is an invaluable bottoms-up view that helps assess the viability of the architecture framework from real projects that are trying to put it into practice, and closes the feedback loop back to architecture stakeholders.

	In addition to the Solution Architect, ATPL+GSA defines other implementation governance related roles such as: Architecture Review Coordinator Architecture Review Lead Architecture Review Participant Enterprise Architect Process Engineer Solution Business Analyst Solution Project Manager Solution Project Sponsor
Figure 4 Definition of the Solution Architect role in ATPL+GSA. Shows which tasks and work products the Solution Architect is responsible for. Also identifies which additional tasks that the Solution Architect contributes to and which additional work products might be modified.

Customizing the ATPL

Licensees of the APG TOGAF Process Library can customize it to create their own versions of TOGAF. Using EPF Composer (an open-source, freely available tool) or IBM Rational Method Composer, organizations can extend ATPL method content and method configurations to represent their tailoring of TOGAF and enterprise architecture.

With ATPL+GSA, an organization can add organization-specific content for their implementation governance capability, such as:

• Add custom architecture compliance review processes and checklists
• Add custom architecture engagement processes and templates
• Custom integration with portfolio and project management lifecycles
• Custom integration with solution delivery and service management frameworks

Please contact APG Sales for more details on how to license the ATPL for internal use, including volume discounts and site licenses.

Integration with IBM Rational Unified Process

The IBM Rational Unified Process® (RUP®) is a comprehensive process framework that provides industry-tested practices for software and systems delivery and implementation and effective project management. With ATPL and RUP being built on the same Eclipse-based platform (see Figure 5), APG has created ATPL+ Rational Unified Process (ATPL+RUP) – a tight integration between TOGAF ADM and RUP.

ATPL+RUP is an IBM Ready for Rational software validated product and integrates with the IBM Rational Software Delivery Platform. Please see the ATPL+RUP product data sheet or contact APG Sales for more details.

Figure 5 Conceptual overview of the Eclipse Process Framework (EPF) platform. The bottom layers represent the tools and the top layers represent various method plugins.

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