The overlap between ITIL and TOGAF

Where ITIL V3 and TOGAF® meet

This blog post is taken from the free White paper TOGAF™ 9 and ITIL® V3 Two Frameworks Whitepaper by Tom van Sante and Jeroen Ermers, Getronics Consulting

This post is specifically looking at the overlap between ITIL and TOGAF. Until the latest versions of both frameworks were published, neither made reference to the other’s. That changed, however, when ITIL V3 and TOGAF 8.1.1 were created. With the new release of ITIL 2011 and TOGAF V9.1 do you think these overlaps stay the same? In ITIL V3 references are made to architectural concepts, hitherto only found in publications on architecture.

The same, although to a much lesser extent, applies to TOGAF 8.1.1: where, in some places in the TOGAF book, references are made to IT management. In the most recent version of TOGAF this overlap is explicitly mentioned and described. However, before we delve into these encounters, it is wise to describe in a nutshell the scope of both frameworks. Figure 1 (below) depicts where ITIL V3 and TOGAF 8.1.1 can be placed on a continuum, from primary business processes to delivering and maintaining IT services. Business architecture is addressed by TOGAF but not by ITIL and, similarly, IT services are addressed by ITIL but not by TOGAF. The other elements (information architecture, technology architecture and IT solutions) are covered in both frameworks, albeit that the level of detail differs for each framework. In summary TOGAF gives you all you need to build the perfect IT solution and monitors the actual building, but provides no guidance on how to actually deliver IT services.

ITIL gives you all you need to deliver IT services perfectly (but does so without an in-depth knowledge of and influence on the supported business processes and misses out on the opportunity to improve the outcomes through business process improvement).

High-level comparison John Zachman defined Enterprise Architecture as a means of creating a coherent way of modelling an enterprise to enable the efficient and effective deployment of IT. In the same manner, it can be stated that Service Management is a means of creating a coherent way of modelling an IT department to enable the efficient and effective deployment of IT services.

The two definitions look alike and indeed have a lot in common. Furthermore, if you compare the two de facto frameworks for Architecture and Service Management (TOGAF 9 and ITIL V3 respectively), a number of similarities are easily found. These similarities, and a number of differences, are described below. These similarities will then be described in more detail later in this paper.

The easiest way to show that these two frameworks do indeed meet is to examine Figure 2 (derived from the Service Design volume of ITIL V3).

ITIL® 2011 Editie – Pocketguide (dutch version) ISBN: 9789087536770 €15,95	ITIL® 2011 Edition – A Pocket Guide (english version) ISBN: 9789087536763 €15,95
Passing the ITIL (2011) Foundation Exam (January 2012) ISBN: €	Foundations of ITIL (2011) Foundations (Expected March 2012) ISBN: €
TOGAF
TOGAF Version 9.1 (December 2011) ISBN: 9789087536794 €75.00	TOGAF Version 9.1 Pocket Guide (December 2011) ISBN: 9789087536787 €15.95
Preparation for the TOGAF 9 Part 1 Examination (December 2011) ISBN: 9789087536817 €39.95	Preparation for the TOGAF 9 Part 2 Examination (December 2011) ISBN: 9789087536800 €39.95

*TOGAF® is a registered trademarks of The Open Group