In the last 3 weeks I wasn't active anymore on my blog. This happened because I decided to certified myself as TOGAF 9.
What is TOGAF?
TOGAF is a an architecture framework (Open Group Architecture Framework) for enterprise architectures. The framework comes with support for designing, planning, implement, governance and support an enterprise information technology architecture.
The core of this framework is TOGAF ADM (Architecture Development Method) that describes the method for developing and managing the full lifecycle of an enterprise architecture.
Why TOGAF?
On the market we can find a lot of certificates and standards related to this subject. I decided to go with TOGAF because is one of the frameworks that stays on the foundation of any company when you talk about enterprise architecture.
Additional to this, it is well used in bank, healthcare and life science industry. In comparison with other certificates, you cannot take this exam from your own laptop. It is requested to go in a certification exam center.
How I prepared for it?
There are two approaches if you want to be TOGAF certified:
TOGAF is a an architecture framework (Open Group Architecture Framework) for enterprise architectures. The framework comes with support for designing, planning, implement, governance and support an enterprise information technology architecture.
The core of this framework is TOGAF ADM (Architecture Development Method) that describes the method for developing and managing the full lifecycle of an enterprise architecture.
Why TOGAF?
On the market we can find a lot of certificates and standards related to this subject. I decided to go with TOGAF because is one of the frameworks that stays on the foundation of any company when you talk about enterprise architecture.
Additional to this, it is well used in bank, healthcare and life science industry. In comparison with other certificates, you cannot take this exam from your own laptop. It is requested to go in a certification exam center.
How I prepared for it?
There are two approaches if you want to be TOGAF certified:
- Go a training organized by an accredited organization - perfect for companies that wants to certified their employes. It is more expensive, but you can learn more in a shorter period of time
- Train yourself - this approach is like home schooling - You need to take all the books and other materials that are necessary for the exam and learn by yourself. It is not so expensive like the first option, but you need more time to learn.
I went with the second approach. being more convenient and flexible from the time perspective.
Learning content
Over the internet you will find a lot of training content, from online materials to videos, books and study guides. The one that I decide to use can be found below.
Part 1 Exam
- (cost) TOGAF 9 Foundation Study Guide - Bible for the Foundation exam
- (cost) Part 1 Foundation Enterprise Architect Certification Training from Udemy, by Scott Duffy - Good quality video, that combined with Study Guide would provide you enough information for the exam.
- (free) ADM The Architecture Development Method N113 Reference Card - Useful to learn ADM
- (free) The TOGAF® Cheat Sheet - Perfect to repeat the core concepts
- (free) TOGAF 9.1 In Pictures by Orbus - Before the exam is useful to learn the steps, inputs and outputs of each ADM phase
- (cost) TOGAF 9 Foundation Part 1 Certified Exam book, by William Manning - I read it only one time, but found useful information, especially related to Risk Assessments topic that is not well covered in Study Guide.
- (cost) TOGAF 9 Part 1 Practice Test - The questions are not the same like in the exam, but helps you to make an idea about what kind of questions are in the exam and the level of details that you need to know
- (free) TOGAF® 9 Exam Simulator - Kind of useful, but I don't recommend it. Some questions are misleading.
- (free) TOGAF 9 Exam Sample - Some test examples
- (free) TOGAF 9.1 Open Group Standard - I recommend to read the documentation. Even if it has almost 700 pages, the content is useful
- (cost) Part 2 Certified Enterprise Architect Certification Training from Udemy, by Scott Duffy - Good quality video that will make you life much easier.
- (free) TOGAF® 9 Exam Simulator - Kind of useful, but I don't recommend it. Some questions are misleading.
Hint
After you cover the Study Guide and Udemy content, I highly recommend to take an exam simulator. In this way you can calibrate yourself related on what topics you need to focus and how much you need to learn.
The first exam (foundation) is focused on theory and framework. Be prepared to remember by heart (memorise) a lot of things.
The second exam is more light from this perspective. Is more about how well you know the architecture framework and how you apply it on different situations.
Taking the exam
There are two exams that needs to be taken:
- OG0-091 TOGAF® 9 Part 1 Exam
- OG0-092 TOGAF® 9 Part 2 Exam
You can take them in the same day or separately. Each exam costs 320$ and if you take them together the costs is under 500$.
Personally I preferred to take them separately - 7 days break between them. Even if the second exams has only 8 questions, it will take you more than an hour to respond to the questions and you will need to look into the TOGAF standard to find information. If you remember that kind of exams from high school that is with open books and you need to know exactly where and what to look for. This is why it is important to read the full standard before (700 pages - smile).
Final thoughts
TOGAF framework is pretty interesting and it was a pleasure reading it. All ADM phases are well described and with a lot of examples for different situations. Don't expect to implement this framework 1 to 1 inside the company, but it will be the foundation for your own EA (Enterprise Architecture).
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