Before You Draw a Single Diagram: The TOGAF Preliminary Phase

Phase: Preliminary Phase Perspective: Enterprise Architect

Most EA programs fail not because of bad diagrams — but because nobody agreed on why they were drawing them in the first place. The Preliminary Phase is where smart architects do the work that makes everything else possible.

Key Inputs

TOGAF and other framework documentation
Board/executive strategy documents
Existing governance frameworks
Current IT organisational structure
Existing architecture principles (if any)
Stakeholder maps and org charts

The Process

Scope the enterprise and define what 'architecture' means here
Establish the Architecture Capability (team, tools, budget)
Define and agree Architecture Principles
Select and tailor the architecture framework
Define governance and decision-making structures
Identify and engage key sponsors

Deliverables

Tailored Architecture Framework
Initial Architecture Principles
Architecture Governance Framework
Architecture Repository structure
Defined EA team roles and responsibilities
Stakeholder engagement plan

Practitioner Perspective

As an EA, your first battle is organisational, not technical. You need executive sponsorship that is real — not just a name on a slide. Use this phase to negotiate what architecture authority actually means. Can you block a project that violates principles? Who arbitrates? These conversations are uncomfortable but essential.

The Architecture Principles you define here become your constitution. Every future decision gets tested against them. Spend serious time here: involve business leaders, not just IT.

The most common mistake: Rushing the Preliminary Phase to "get to the real work." There is no more real work than this. Every hour skipped here costs ten hours in rework later.

Practical tips:

Run a workshop with C-suite stakeholders to co-create Architecture Principles — ownership matters as much as content
Document what architecture is not responsible for — boundary clarity prevents scope creep
Establish your Architecture Repository now, even if it is mostly empty — structure early saves pain later
Agree escalation paths for governance disputes before you need them

Part of a series: TOGAF from an Enterprise Architect's Perspective