TL;DR
The Architecture Board is a cross-organizational governance body represented by key architecture stakeholders. It owns governance processes and recommendations, but final decision rights about the target architecture remain with the architecture stakeholders.
What it is
The Architecture Board is a cross-organizational governance body.
It is represented by key architecture stakeholders.
In many organizations, these stakeholders are executives responsible for reviewing and maintaining the enterprise architecture.
The board also oversees implementation of the architecture strategy, especially in Phase H: Architecture Change Management.
Scope and authority
Like any governance body, the Architecture Board has:
- responsibilities
- decision-making capabilities
- remit
- authority limits
In large enterprises, the board may include:
- global representatives with organization-wide responsibilities
- local representatives with domain knowledge and line responsibilities
The board’s scope may be:
- global
- regional
- business line based
- domain based
The scope depends on the size, structure, and business model of the organization.
Goals
A good Architecture Board improves the maturity of the enterprise architecture discipline.
It helps ensure that architecture-based development methods, such as TOGAF, are adopted.
Important goals include:
- ensure consistency of sub-architectures
- enforce architecture compliance
- establish reuse targets for components
- keep the enterprise architecture flexible for business and technology needs
- support escalation for decisions beyond one project or business unit
- provide a basis for formal architecture decision-making
Operational responsibilities
In practice, the Architecture Board may:
- monitor, control, and publish architecture contracts
- ensure management and implementation of architectures
- resolve ambiguities, issues, and conflicts
- provide advice, guidance, and information
- ensure compliance with transition and target architectures
- grant dispensations
- consider policy changes
- validate operational aspects such as service levels and cost savings
Policy changes may include variations in project schedule, service level agreements, or new service requirements.
Governance responsibilities
The Architecture Board is also an architecture governance process owner.
It provides:
- a mechanism for formal acceptance and approval of enterprise architecture
- a control mechanism for compliant implementation
- a process for dealing with divergence from the architecture
- activities for realignment, such as dispensations or policy updates
- linkage between business strategy, architecture strategy, and architecture implementation
- governance materials such as compliance checklists, decision templates, and review processes
Its core task is to connect:
- strategic business objectives
- architecture strategy and objectives
- implementation of the architecture
Decision rights
One important TOGAF point is that final decision rights about the target architecture lie with the stakeholders.
They do not lie with:
- the enterprise architects
- the Architecture Board
The Architecture Board owns governance processes and recommendations.
It may make recommendations about completeness, confidence, relief, enforcement, or compliance.
But decision rights about the target architecture, relief, and enforcement are vested in the architecture stakeholders.
This applies independently of architecture domain.
Supporting materials
TOGAF provides governance materials to help enterprise architects assess target architectures.
Examples include:
- decision tree checklists
- non-compliance reports
- compliance checklists
- review processes
- decision templates
These materials support Architecture Board decision-making and governance discipline.
Exam note
- The Architecture Board is a cross-organizational governance body.
- It is represented by key architecture stakeholders.
- It reviews, maintains, and governs enterprise architecture.
- Its scope may be global, regional, local, business line based, or domain based.
- It supports compliance, consistency, reuse, flexibility, and escalation.
- It monitors architecture contracts and can grant dispensations.
- It provides governance processes, checklists, templates, and review mechanisms.
- Final decision rights about the target architecture are vested in the stakeholders.
- Enterprise architects and the Architecture Board provide processes and recommendations, not final target architecture decision rights.