Study guide
9.1 Interoperability
TOGAF Enterprise Architecture Foundation OGEA-101
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1 Chapter 1: Enterprise Architecture & the TOGAF Standard
1.1 The Enterprise, the Purpose of EA & Its Benefits 1.2 Why the TOGAF Standard: Framework, Documentation Set & Certification 1.3 The Four Architecture Domains & Architecture Abstraction
2 Chapter 2: Enterprise Continuum, Architecture Repository, Content Framework & Capability
2.1 The Enterprise Continuum 2.2 The Architecture Repository 2.3 The TOGAF Content Framework & Enterprise Metamodel 2.4 Architecture Capability
3 Chapter 3: Key TOGAF Terminology
3.1 Terms for Architecture Domains, Levels, States & Capability 3.2 Terms for Work Products, Models, Requirements & Change
4 Chapter 4: ADM Fundamentals, Preliminary Phase & Phase A
4.1 The ADM Cycle, Its Phases & Information Flow 4.2 Draft vs. Approved Deliverables & the Iterative ADM 4.3 Governing EA, Scoping the Architecture & Alternatives 4.4 The Preliminary Phase 4.5 Phase A: Architecture Vision
5 Chapter 5: Architecture Definition — Phases B, C & D
5.1 Phase B: Business Architecture 5.2 Phase C: Information Systems Architectures — Data & Application 5.3 Phase D: Technology Architecture
6 Chapter 6: Opportunities, Migration Planning & Implementation Governance (Phases E, F & G)
6.1 Phase E: Opportunities & Solutions 6.2 Phase F: Migration Planning 6.3 Phase G: Implementation Governance
7 Chapter 7: Phase H, Requirements Management & Agile Delivery
7.1 Phase H: Architecture Change Management 7.2 Requirements Management 7.3 Supporting Agile Software Development with the ADM
8 Chapter 8: ADM Techniques I — Guidelines, Principles, Business Scenarios & Gap Analysis
8.1 ADM Guidelines & Techniques and Architecture Principles 8.2 Business Scenarios 8.3 Gap Analysis
9 Chapter 9: ADM Techniques II — Interoperability, Transformation Readiness & Risk
9.1 Interoperability 9.2 Business Transformation Readiness Assessment 9.3 Risk Management
10 Chapter 10: Applying the ADM
10.1 Guidance for Applying TOGAF, Iteration & Concurrent Phases 10.2 The Architecture Landscape: Strategic, Segment & Capability Levels 10.3 Architecture Partitioning 10.4 The Four Purposes of Architecture 10.5 Applying the TOGAF Standard in the Digital Enterprise
11 Chapter 11: Architecture Governance
11.1 Architecture Governance: Concept & Benefits 11.2 The Architecture Board 11.3 Architecture Contracts 11.4 Architecture Compliance
12 Chapter 12: Architecture Content
12.1 Stakeholders, Concerns, Views & Viewpoints 12.2 Building Blocks: ABBs & SBBs 12.3 ADM Deliverables I: Preliminary Phase and Architecture Vision 12.4 ADM Deliverables II: From Architecture Definition to Change
9.1 Interoperability
Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI
TOGAF's first definition of interoperability is the ability to share information and services.
Interoperability is commonly categorized as Operational or Business Interoperability, Information Interoperability, and Technical Interoperability.
TOGAF's example degrees of interoperability run from Degree 1 Unstructured Data Exchange to Degree 4 Seamless Sharing of Information.
The nature and security considerations of information and service exchanges are first revealed within business scenarios in Phase A.
Phase E consolidates and reconciles interoperability requirements with potential solutions, and Phase F logically implements interoperability.
Last updated: September 2026
9.1 Interoperability
The Foundation syllabus asks you to briefly explain interoperability and how it is used . Defining the degree to which information and services are, or are not, to be shared is a very useful architectural requirement, especially in a complex organization or extended enterprise.
Definitions
The TOGAF Standard gives three definitions of interoperability :
- The ability to share information and services
- The ability of two or more systems or components to exchange and use information
The ability of systems to provide and receive services from other systems and to use the services so interchanged to enable them to operate effectively together
There are many ways to define interoperability. The aim is to define one that is consistently applied within the enterprise and the extended enterprise — ideally, both use the same definitions.
Categories of Interoperability
Many organizations find it useful to categorize interoperability as follows:
Category What it defines
Operational or Business Interoperability How different parts of the enterprise work together at the business level — how business processes are to be shared
- Information Interoperability How information is to be shared
- Technical Interoperability How technical resources are to be shared, or at least connect to one another
From an IT perspective, TOGAF also suggests considering interoperability in a similar vein to Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) :
EAI-style view Description
Presentation Integration/Interoperability A common look-and-feel approach, through a common portal-like solution, guides the user to the underlying functionality of a set of systems
Information Integration/Interoperability Corporate information is seamlessly shared between applications, normally based on a commonly accepted corporate ontology and shared services for structure, quality, access, and security/privacy
Application Integration/Interoperability Corporate functionality is integrated and shareable so applications are not duplicated (for example, one change-of-address service rather than one per application) and are linked through functionality such as workflow
Technical Integration/Interoperability Common methods and shared services for communication, storage, processing, and access to data, primarily in the application platform and communications infrastructure domains
Degrees of Interoperability
TOGAF illustrates how interoperability can be expressed in degrees , using an example scheme from the Canadian government:
Degree Name Description
1 Unstructured Data Exchange Exchange of human-interpretable unstructured data, such as the free text found in operational estimates, analysis, and papers
2 Structured Data Exchange Exchange of human-interpretable structured data intended for manual and/or automated handling, but requiring manual compilation, receipt, and/or message dispatch
3 Seamless Sharing of Data Automated sharing of data among systems based on a common exchange model
4 Seamless Sharing of Information An extension of degree 3 to the universal interpretation of information through data processing based on co-operating applications
These degrees can be refined further for a specific enterprise — for example, dividing Seamless Sharing of Data into formal message exchange, common data exchange, complete data exchange, and real-time data exchange.
How Interoperability Is Used Across the ADM
The determination of interoperability is present throughout the ADM:
ADM phase Interoperability activity
Phase A: Architecture Vision The nature and security considerations of information and service exchanges are first revealed within the business scenarios
Phase B: Business Architecture Information and service exchanges are further defined in business terms
Phase C: Data Architecture The content of information exchanges is detailed using the corporate data and/or information exchange model
- Phase C: Application Architecture The way applications are to share information and services is specified
- Phase D: Technology Architecture The appropriate technical mechanisms to permit the exchanges are specified
Phase E: Opportunities & Solutions The actual solutions (for example, COTS packages) are selected; the step "Consolidate and Reconcile Interoperability Requirements" is performed
- Phase F: Migration Planning Interoperability is logically implemented
- Determining and Reconciling Interoperability Requirements
TOGAF recommends refining interoperability in the context of the enterprise operating model and then recording requirements in matrices, for example:
A Business Information Interoperability Matrix showing which business stakeholders need to share which information, and at what degree
An Information Systems Interoperability Matrix showing which systems must exchange information with which others, and at what degree
In Phase E, these requirements are reconciled with potential solutions . If a candidate COTS product cannot achieve the required degree of interoperability, the architect must either change the solution, change the requirement, or plan how to close the gap.
Scenario: Merging Two Hospital Networks
Two hospital groups merge. Clinicians need shared patient allergy information at Degree 4 (seamless sharing of information that both sides interpret identically), while monthly management reports only need Degree 2 (structured data compiled manually). The Business Information Interoperability Matrix captures these needs. In Phase C the architects define a common allergy data model; in Phase D they specify the exchange mechanisms; in Phase E they discover that one group's record system supports only file transfers, so a reconciliation decision is taken to add an integration service before the merged clinical workflow goes live.
Common Exam Pitfalls
Treating interoperability as purely technical. TOGAF includes operational/business and information interoperability as well as technical.
Scrambling the degrees. Degree 1 is unstructured data exchange; degree 4 is seamless sharing of information.
Thinking interoperability belongs only to Phase D. It is revealed in Phase A and addressed in every phase through Phase F.
Skipping reconciliation. Phase E consolidates and reconciles interoperability requirements with potential solutions.