Behavior Concepts

Behavior elements in the Technology Layer are similar to the behavior elements in the other layers.

A distinction is made between the external behavior of nodes in terms of technology services, and the internal behavior of these nodes; i.e., technology functions that realize these services.

Technology Function Concept Notation

A technology function describes the internal behavior of a node, which represents a collection of technology behavior that can be performed by a node.

A technology function abstracts from the way it is implemented and only exhibits the necessary behavior is specified. It has the following characteristics:

• A technology function may realize technology services.
• Technology services of other technology functions may serve technology functions.
• A technology function may access technology objects.
• A node may be assigned to a technology function (which means that the node performs the technology function).
• The name of a technology function should preferably be a verb ending with “ing”.

Technology Function Concept Example

In the ArchiMate Diagram below, the database management system (DBMS) node performs two infrastructure functions: providing data access (realizing a data access service for application software), and managing data (realizing a data management service for database administration).

Technology Process Concept Notation

A technology process describes internal behavior of a node. A technology process represents a sequence of technology behaviors that achieves a specific outcome. If its behavior is exposed externally, this is done through one or more technology services.

A technology process has the following characteristics:

• A technology process may realize technology services.
• A technology process abstracts from the way it is implemented. Only the necessary behavior is specified.
• It can use technology objects as input and use or transform these to produce other technology objects as output.
• Other technology services may serve (be used by) a technology process.
• A technology process may access technology objects.
• A node may be assigned to a technology process, which means that this node performs the process.
• The name of a technology process should clearly identify a series of technology behaviors; e.g., “System boot sequence” or “Replicate database”.

Technology Service Concept Notation

A technology service represents an explicitly defined exposed technology behavior.

A technology service exposes the functionality of a node to its environment. This functionality is accessed through one or more technology interfaces and it has the following characteristics:

A technology service is realized by a technology function or process. 

A technology service should be meaningful from the point of view of the environment

it should provide a unit of behavior that is, in itself, useful to its users, such as application components and nodes. 

• A technology service may serve application components or nodes. 
• A technology may require, use, and produce artifacts, e.g., a file containing a message. 
• A technology service may consist of sub-services. 
• A technology services may include messaging, storage, naming, and directory services.
• The name of a technology service should preferably be a verb ending with “ing”; e.g., “messaging”. Also, a name explicitly containing the word “service” may be used.

Technology Layer Example

The example below shows, a technology event Database Update triggers a technology process Remote Data Replication, which is served by a technology service Replicate Database Updates.

This technology service is realized by a technology function Database Replication, which is composed of four other technology functions:

1. Administrate Replication
2. Handle Local Updates
3. Handle Remote Updates
4. Monitor Replication Status.

There are information flows from the Administrate Replication technology function to the other three technology functions.