The Open Group, a vendor- and technology-neutral consortium focused on open standards and global interoperability within and between enterprises, today announced that more than 10,000 individuals have been certified for TOGAF(TM). Developed and endorsed by the members of The Open Group's Architecture Forum, TOGAF represents an industry consensus framework and method for enterprise architecture that's made available for use internally by any organization around the world, including both members and non-members of The Open Group.

Since its creation in the early 90's and the recent evolutionary release of TOGAF version 9, more than 80 percent of the Global Forbes Top 50 have used the standard to reduce time, costs and risks associated with developing an enterprise architecture and improve overall business agility by more closely aligning their business and IT goals. TOGAF certification programs exist for individuals, trainers, professional services, and tool support. These programs enable organizations to standardize on an open method for IT architecture and avoid lock-in to the proprietary methods of major vendors.

"The tremendous efforts of the thousands of certified practitioners, trainers and Architecture Forum members are showcased in this monumental program milestone," congratulated Allen Brown president and CEO, The Open Group. "The new economic era is demanding that robust, efficient organizations use enterprise architecture to reduce risk, expedite change and create closer links between IT and business. Many of these organizations have standardized on TOGAF and we're incredibly grateful to our eco-system of trainers, members and advocates who continue to propel this certification program into the mainstream."

Worldwide there are currently over 32 training partners supporting the continued market adoption of TOGAF by both individuals and organizations alike. To date almost 125,000 copies of the TOGAF framework have been downloaded from The Open Group's website and more than 21,000 hard copies of the TOGAF series have been sold.