Key takeaways
- Internal use of the standard: free of charge.
- Commercial use: prior permission from the copyright owners.
- Downloads are under license, free for internal use.
- The Architecture Forum is the program that evolves TOGAF.
- The Open Group’s vision is Boundaryless Information Flow.
Conditions of use
The TOGAF Standard can be read freely online without a license. It can also be downloaded and stored under license, under the rules published on the TOGAF information website.
Any organization may use it freely to develop an architecture for its own use. Any other form of reproduction or distribution, especially for commercial gain, requires the prior permission of the copyright owners.
- Online reading: no license needed.
- PDF downloads: under license, free for entirely internal use.
- Commercial use: prior permission required.
Why the standard is free
The Open Group brings together buyers and suppliers of information systems to lower the barriers to integrating technology within and between enterprises. Its goal is Boundaryless Information Flow.
The standard is a pillar of that strategy: The Open Group wants it adopted in real projects, with experience fed back to improve it. That is why it is published on its public web server and may be reproduced free of charge for internal use.
Joining The Open Group
The standard is free, but developing an Enterprise Architecture and the purchases that follow cost far more: the standard presents the price of membership as small by comparison. Members can take part in the Architecture Forum, the program in which the standard evolves. Membership is not required, however, to use the standard internally or to take a TOGAF certification.
- Early access to work in progress on the next edition.
- Exchange with other customer and vendor organizations, and with architects worldwide.
- Peer review of architecture case study material.
TERMS TO KNOW
The terms, in context.
- Architecture Forum
- The Open Group program in which the TOGAF Standard is developed and its users exchange experience.
- Boundaryless Information Flow
- The Open Group’s vision: information flowing without barriers within and between enterprises.
- Conditions of use
- Rules allowing free internal use of the standard and requiring permission for other uses.
- Download license
- License covering PDF downloads, free for entirely internal use.