Reference
Reading list & resources
Books, free online material, and certifications worth your time, grouped by topic.
Books
Start here
- The Software Architect Elevator by Gregor Hohpe. The best book on the architect’s role in a large organization: riding the “elevator” between the engine room and the boardroom. Directly relevant to the move from EM to EA.
- Enterprise Architecture as Strategy by Jeanne Ross, Peter Weill, and David Robertson. The source of the operating models in module 4, and still one of the clearest arguments for why EA matters to the business.
Architecture practice
- Fundamentals of Software Architecture by Mark Richards and Neal Ford. Broad grounding in architecture characteristics, styles, and the soft skills of the role.
- Building Evolutionary Architectures by Neal Ford, Rebecca Parsons, Patrick Kua, and Pramod Sadalage. Fitness functions and architecture that changes safely (module 8).
- Software Architecture: The Hard Parts by Neal Ford, Mark Richards, Pramod Sadalage, and Zhamak Dehghani. Trade-off analysis for distributed systems and data.
- Enterprise Architecture at Work by Marc Lankhorst et al. Modeling, communication, and analysis, with the background to ArchiMate.
Organization and strategy
- Team Topologies by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais. Team structures, platform teams, and Conway’s Law in practice.
- Good Strategy / Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt. How to tell real strategy from goals and slogans. Essential for “translating strategy into change.”
- The Principles of Product Development Flow by Donald Reinertsen. Cost of delay, queues, and the economics behind prioritization (module 9).
- Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows. A short, readable introduction to systems thinking.
Data and integration
- Designing Data-Intensive Applications by Martin Kleppmann. The reference for data systems trade-offs.
- Enterprise Integration Patterns by Gregor Hohpe and Bobby Woolf. The vocabulary of messaging and integration.
Free online material
| Resource | What it’s good for |
|---|---|
| The Open Group: TOGAF | The standard itself (free for personal use after registering), series guides, certification information |
| The Open Group: ArchiMate | The ArchiMate specification |
| Archi | Free, open-source ArchiMate modeling tool, good for learning |
| c4model.com | The C4 model explained by its author, with examples |
| ADR GitHub organization | ADR templates (including MADR), tooling, and guidance |
| Thoughtworks Technology Radar | A real radar to learn from, and a model for building your own |
| martinfowler.com: Architecture | Essays on architecture, including decision-making and evolutionary design |
| The Architect Elevator | Gregor Hohpe’s blog, following on from the book |
| InfoQ: Architecture & Design | Conference talks and articles from practitioners |
| Business Architecture Guild | BIZBOK overview and business architecture community (full BIZBOK requires membership) |
Certifications
| Certification | Body | Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| TOGAF Enterprise Architecture Foundation | The Open Group | Core EA credential; your current goal (module 12) |
| TOGAF Enterprise Architecture Practitioner | The Open Group | The applied level; the one employers value most |
| TOGAF Business Architecture | The Open Group | Adds business architecture depth on top of TOGAF |
| ArchiMate Foundation / Practitioner | The Open Group | If ArchiMate becomes a big part of your role |
| Certified Business Architect (CBA) | Business Architecture Guild | The specialist business architecture credential |
| Cloud architect certifications (AWS Solutions Architect – Professional, Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Google Professional Cloud Architect) | Cloud providers | Technical credibility in cloud-heavy organizations |
| SAFe for Architects | Scaled Agile | Only if your organization runs SAFe |
Check current names, formats, and prerequisites with each certifying body. They change from time to time.
Courses
- Accredited TOGAF training: The Open Group lists accredited training providers on its site. Courses usually combine Foundation and Practitioner preparation over several days, and often include an exam voucher.
- Self-study: the standard, an official study guide, and practice exams are enough for many people, especially with this site’s modules 5, 6, and 12 as a guide.