Scenario: Florian Flowers BV -
Florian Flowers BV is an international agricultural company exporting flowers and seeds worldwide. Florian is headquartered in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and has sales and distribution centers in over 60 countries worldwide. Several of these centers include administrative, manufacturing, and research facilities.
To achieve full integration of their research capabilities with their development centers located in various climate zones, Florian wants to develop strong self- directed teams in each location. Florian also wants to define new business models that are profitable while reducing their impact on the environment. Florian management is deeply committed to ensuring that the company is a world leader in socially responsible seed development with a business strategy that focuses on profitability through environmentally friendly operating processes.
Florians international operations are subject to various legal and regulatory requirements. In areas such as genetically modified seeds, governmental controls are strictly enforced and compliance is critical. Recently a competitor was heavily fined for violating the regulations in a country where it was developing pest-resistant seeds.
The Governing Board is concerned, and as a result has approved the expenditure of resources to establish an Enterprise Architecture program. They have requested to be informed about the status of projects that could impact regulatory compliance. They also want to enable the corporate legal staff and auditors to analyze proposed architectures to ensure that they are within the legal guidelines for a given location. In addition, the research organization should be able to see that the architecture is appropriate for its needs.
TOGAF 9 has been mandated as the guiding framework for the development and evolution of the Enterprise Architecture practice.
Florian management has engaged you as the Lead Consultant to assess the current situation.
You have been asked to recommend an approach that would enable the development of an architecture that addresses the needs of all these parties.
Based on TOGAF 9, which of the following is the best answer?
Correct Answer: D
To develop an architecture that addresses the needs of all parties involved, it is crucial to first identify and define the concerns of the various stakeholders. This can be achieved by creating a stakeholder map that groups stakeholders with common concerns. Once these groups are defined, a set of views should be established to address each group's specific concerns. Architecture models can then be developed for each view to ensure all stakeholder concerns, including regulatory compliance, are appropriately addressed. This approach ensures a comprehensive and targeted response to the needs of all stakeholders, including legal and regulatory requirements.
Scenario: Armstrong Defense Industries
Armstrong Defense Industries is the prime contractor for the Dreadnought Unmanned Aircraft System program.
Over the course of this contract, the company has grown rapidly by acquisition and has inherited numerous different procurement processes and related IT systems. Armstrong Defense is moving aggressively to consolidate and reduce redundant procurement processes and systems. The CEO has announced that the company will seek to leverage higher volume discounts and lower related IT support costs by instituting a preferred supplier program.
To achieve this goal, Armstrong Defense needs to define Baseline and Target Architectures. These architectures must address key stakeholders concerns such as:
1. What groups of people should be involved in procurement-related business processes?
2. What current applications do those groups use?
3. Which procurement-related business processes are supported by zero, one, or many existing applications?
4. What are the overall lifetimes of the Request for Proposal and Purchase Order business objects?
5. What non-procurement applications will need to be integrated with any new procurement applications?
6. What data will need to be shared?
At present, there are no particularly useful architectural assets related to this initiative. All assets need to be acquired and customized or created from scratch. The company prefers to implement existing package applications from systems vendors with little customization.
The architecture development project has just completed its Architecture Context iteration cycle and is about to begin the Architecture Definition iteration cycle.
Armstrong Defense is using TOGAF for its internal Enterprise Architecture activities. It uses an iterative approach for executing Architecture Development Method
(ADM) projects.
You are serving as the Lead Architect.
You have been asked to identify the most appropriate architecture viewpoints for this situation.
Based on TOGAF 9, which of the following is the best answer?
Correct Answer: B
To effectively tackle the goal of consolidating and reducing redundant procurement processes and systems, it is important to start by defining the future state, or Target Architecture, first. This approach helps in setting a clear vision and direction. You need to identify the necessary business services/functions and how they interact (Business Service/Function catalog and Business Interaction matrix), the lifecycle of key business objects (Product Lifecycle diagrams), the communication and interactions between applications (Application Communication diagrams and Application Interaction matrix), and how data is managed and associated with business functions (Data Entity/Business Function matrix and System/Data matrix). This level of foresight ensures that you are designing towards a coherent target, which then can be juxtaposed with the baseline to identify gaps and necessary transitions. Subsequently, the Baseline Architecture would be described in detail to understand the existing state and help in the smooth transition to the target state.
Scenario: St. Croix Consulting -
St. Croix Consulting started as an accounting and financial services company. It has expanded over the years and is now a leading North American IT and
Business Services provider.
With numerous practice areas and a multitude of diverse engagements underway at any given time, overall engagement management has become challenging.
The company does not want to risk its outstanding reputation or its international certifications and CMM ratings. Senior partners must become team players, working to support the broader needs of the company and its shareholders.
The Enterprise Architecture team has been working to create St. Croixs Enterprise Architecture framework to address these issues. The team has defined a preliminary framework and held workshops with key stakeholders to define a set of principles to govern the architecture work. They have completed an
Architecture Vision at a strategic level and laid out Architecture Definitions for the four domains. They have set out an ambitious vision of the future of the company over a five-year period.
An Architecture Review Board has been formed comprised of IT staff executives and executives from the major practice areas.
The Enterprise Architecture framework is based on TOGAF 9.
The Chief Executive Officer and Chief Information Officer have co-sponsored the creation of the Enterprise Architecture program.
You have been assigned to the role of Chief Enterprise Architect.
As the EA team prepares to formulate an Implementation plan, they have been asked by the CIO to assess the risks associated with the proposed architecture.
He has received concerns from senior management that the proposed architecture may be too ambitious and they are not sure it can produce sufficient value to warrant the attendant risks.
You have been asked to recommend an approach to satisfy these concerns.
Based on TOGAF 9, which of the following is the best answer?
Correct Answer: D
The best approach to address the senior management's concerns about the risks and value of the proposed architecture is to apply techniques specifically designed to assess these factors. Techniques such as the Business Transformation Readiness Assessment and the Business Value Assessment are crucial. The Business Transformation Readiness Assessment evaluates how ready the organization is for the proposed changes, identifying potential risks and areas needing more preparation. The Business Value Assessment will help to determine the expected benefits and value of the proposed architecture, ensuring that it justifies the associated risks.
Scenario: Zephyr Enterprises -
Zephyr Enterprises specializes in the development of wind turbine blades for use in large-scale commercial wind energy production systems. Zephyr has manufacturing facilities located in Palm Springs, California, Omaha, Nebraska, and Winnipeg, Ontario. Each of these plants supplies a different manufacturer that builds and sells complete systems. The turbine blades are custom engineered to meet each manufacturers design specifications.
Until recently, most turbine blades were fabricated manually using molded fiber-reinforced plastics. However, recent improvements in composite materials, coupled with enhanced automated methods for precision application of materials during the molding process, have led to significant reduction in weight, increase in strength, and greatly improved blade longevity. Zephyr has pioneered the development of a proprietary automated process for continuous extrusion of the turbine blades. Patents have been filed to protect the process, but certain trade secrets must be closely guarded.
Zephyr has a mature Enterprise Architecture organization that is supported by a cross-functional Architecture Review Board. The Chief Information Officer and the
Chief Operating Officer co-sponsor the Enterprise Architecture program.
Zephyr has used TOGAF and its Architecture Development Method (ADM) to develop its automated manufacturing processes and systems that are used to design, manufacture, and test the blade assemblies. They have recently updated to TOGAF 9 and have adapted the Zephyr Enterprise Architecture to closely follow the TOGAF 9 framework. All of Zephyrs IT architects have been trained and certified on TOGAF 9.Recently, an architecture project was completed that defined a standard approach for controlling the Automated Test System that is used at each plant to perform final quality assurance tests on each completed blade assembly. The Manufacturing Architecture Board approved the plan for immediate implementation at each plant.
An Architecture Contract was developed that detailed the work needed to implement and deploy the new Automated Test System controller. The Chief Engineer, sponsor of the activity, has expressed concern that a uniform process be employed at each site to ensure consistency.
You have been assigned by the Lead Architect for the Automated Test System controller project to conduct Compliance Assessments at each manufacturing plant.
During the course of the assessment at the Omaha plant, you discover that the Distributed Data Acquisition System they have purchased uses a proprietary
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) that utilizes kernel mode threads instead of the user mode threads that are specified in the Architecture Definition Document. In all other respects, the system meets the requirements stated in the Architecture Definition Document and seems to perform correctly.
You have been asked to describe the compliance of this system for the final report.
Based on TOGAF 9, which of the following is the best answer?
Correct Answer: D
The system cannot be described as conformant because one of its features, the RPC mechanism, has not been implemented according to the specification in the Architecture Definition Document. Even though the system meets most of the requirements and appears to work correctly, any feature implemented not in accordance with the specification renders the system non-conformant. The process requires strict adherence to the specified user mode threads rather than kernel mode threads. Therefore, the correct description for the system's compliance is non-conformant.
Scenario: Rollins Manufacturing -
Rollins Manufacturing is a major supplier in the automotive industry, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio with manufacturing plants in Chicago, Sao Paulo, Stuttgart,
Yokohama, and Seoul. Each of these plants has been operating its own Manufacturing Requirements Planning (MRPII) system, production scheduling, and custom developed applications that drive the automated production equipment at each plant.
Rollins is implementing lean manufacturing principles to minimize waste and improve the efficiency of all of its production operations. During a recent exercise held for internal quality improvement, it was determined that a significant reduction in process waste could be achieved by replacing the current MRPII and scheduling systems with a common Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system located in the Cleveland data center. This central system would provide support to each of the plants replacing the functionality in the existing systems. It would also eliminate the need for full data centers at each of the plant facilities. A reduced number of IT staff could support the remaining applications. In some cases, a third-party contractor could provide those staff.
The Rollins Enterprise Architecture department has been operating for several years and has mature, well-developed architecture governance and development processes that are strongly based on TOGAF 9.At a recent meeting, the Architecture Review Board approved a Request for Architecture Work from the Chief
Engineer of Global Manufacturing Operations who is the project sponsor. The request covered the initial architectural investigations and the development of a comprehensive architecture to plan the transformation.
The Common ERP Deployment architecture project team has now been formed, and the project team has been asked to develop an Architecture Vision that will achieve the desired outcomes and benefits. Some of the plant managers have expressed concern about the security and reliability of driving their MRPII and production scheduling from a central system located in Cleveland. The Chief Engineer wants to know how these concerns can be addressed.
You are serving as the Lead Enterprise Architect of the newly-formed Common ERP Deployment architecture project team.
As the Common ERP Deployment architecture project team assembles for its initial meeting, many of the participants have voiced concerns about the sweeping scope of the initiative. Others are confident that they know a solution that will work. During the meeting, a number of alternative recommendations for how to proceed are put forward by members of the team.
You have been asked to select the most appropriate recommendation to ensure that the team evaluates different approaches to the problem and clarifies the requirements for the architecture.
Based on TOGAF 9, which of the following is the best answer?
Correct Answer: A
According to TOGAF 9, the initial phase of developing an architecture involves understanding and defining the business requirements and vision. Holding a series of interviews using the business scenario technique will help identify and document the characteristics of the architecture based on real business requirements. This approach ensures that the architecture vision aligns with the actual needs and concerns of the stakeholders, making it the most appropriate recommendation.