Artifacts & Building Blocks

Artifacts in TOGAF

Artifacts are specific documents, diagrams, or models that describe various aspects of the architecture. They are outputs from the architecture development process and are used to represent information in a structured and actionable manner.

Types of Artifacts:

1. Catalogs: Lists or inventories of things like applications, data entities, or roles.

   • Example: Applications Portfolio, Business Function Catalog.

2. Matrices: relationships between different architectural elements.

   • Example: Business Value Matrix, Application Stability Index, Estimations etc.

3. Diagrams: graphic representations of a subset of the architecture.

   • Example: Business Process Flow, Data Flow Diagram, Use Case Diagram, UML, Technology Infrastructure Diagram.

4. Deliverables: Any documents that are agreed upon and signed off.

   • Example: SOW, Department Roadmap, Estimation, HLD, SPD etc.
     

Building Blocks in TOGAF

Building blocks are reusable components that define capabilities and services within the architecture. They can represent either logical or physical elements and are foundational to creating consistent architectures.

Types of Building Blocks:

1. Architecture Building Blocks (ABBs): Represent logical components that describe what needs to be done.

   • Example: Business processes, data models, or application functionalities.

2. Solution Building Blocks (SBBs): Represent physical components that describe how the logical requirements will be implemented.

   • Example: Specific software, hardware, or platforms.