Differences Between TOGAF and ArchiMate

Luc Bories

- 3 minutes read - 448 words

Answering the question of the differences between TOGAF and ArchiMate is not straightforward, but here’s what you need to know.

Most organizations today are embarking on or renewing their enterprise architecture practices. Is yours part of that trend?

If so, you’re not alone—many enterprise architects are confused by the distinctions between TOGAF and ArchiMate. While there are overlaps, each standard serves a distinct purpose. Which one should you learn first?

The Origin of TOGAF, ArchiMate and ISO 42010

The discipline of standardizing and structuring an organization’s IT landscape is known as Enterprise Architecture (EA). TOGAF and ArchiMate are two complementary standards managed by The Open Group, an international consortium that defines vendor-neutral certifications and frameworks.

ISO 42010 underpins both by defining core EA concepts. As an international standards body, ISO creates guidelines to ensure quality, safety and efficiency of systems, but it does not prescribe a specific documentation format for an architecture description.

TOGAF or ArchiMate—Which to Choose?

TOGAF and ArchiMate both support Enterprise Architecture, but they address different needs. TOGAF is a framework for defining, governing and communicating your architecture. ArchiMate is a modeling language for visualizing it.

TOGAF’s centerpiece is the Architecture Development Method (ADM), a “framework of frameworks” that guides you through four architecture domains:

  • Enterprise Architecture: strategy definition, governance and organizational alignment
  • Application Architecture: structuring and using application systems in line with business goals
  • Data Architecture: designing data storage, management and maintenance
  • Technology Architecture: specifying hardware, software and infrastructure requirements

Version 9.2 retains the ADM’s core structure but enhances guidance, refines organization and removes obsolete content.

ArchiMate is a unified, graphical language that helps architects map relationships across domains. It provides standard symbols and color conventions to represent:

  • Business processes
  • Organizational units
  • Information flows
  • IT systems

High-level modeling in ArchiMate zeroes in on the essential elements of an enterprise. The latest iteration, ArchiMate 3.1, introduces minor corrections and improvements over version 3.0.

Differences Between TOGAF and ArchiMate

TOGAF and ArchiMate are designed to work hand in hand. TOGAF describes the end-to-end process for creating and managing enterprise architecture frameworks but does not mandate a diagramming notation. ArchiMate fills that gap with a standardized modeling language.

  • TOGAF requires you to document baseline, transition and target architectures, articulating stakeholder concerns and architectural viewpoints.
  • ArchiMate provides a graphical palette—complete with shapes and color rules—to render those architectures in consistent, coherent diagrams.

TOGAF’s rich network of relationships can be hard to visualize; ArchiMate’s simpler relationship constructs make cross-domain links easier to manage.

In essence, TOGAF lays out the “what” and the “how” of architecture development, while ArchiMate offers the “language” for expressing it. Together, they form a comprehensive EA practice that guides your process and clarifies your communication.