ArchiMate is a powerful modeling language used for enterprise architecture. It provides a standardized way to describe, analyze, and visualize the relationships among business processes, organizational structures, information flows, technical infrastructure, and the motivations and goals that drive an enterprise. In this article, we’ll explore ArchiMate using a learn-by-example approach, focusing on a simple yet comprehensive scenario.

Introduction to ArchiMate

ArchiMate is designed to support enterprise architects in describing, analyzing, and visualizing the relationships among architecture domains in an unambiguous way. It is an open and independent modeling language, maintained by The Open Group. ArchiMate consists of three main layers:

1. Business Layer: Describes the business processes, services, and functions.
2. Application Layer: Describes the applications and software that support the business layer.
3. Technology Layer: Describes the hardware and infrastructure that support the application layer.

Additionally, ArchiMate includes a Motivation Extension that describes the motivations, goals, and requirements that drive the architecture.

Example Scenario: Technology Service Improvement

Let’s consider a scenario where a technology service company wants to improve its customer satisfaction by reducing manual work and interaction with customers. The company aims to achieve this by providing an online personal assistant.

Step 1: Identify the Drivers and Goals

The first step is to identify the drivers and goals that motivate the architecture changes. In our example, the driver is “Customer Satisfaction,” and the goal is to “Reduce Manual Work.”

Step 2: Define the Requirements

Based on the goals, the company identifies the requirement to “Assign Personal Assistant” to customers.

Step 3: Establish the Principles

The company establishes a principle that “Systems Should be Customer Facing” to guide the architecture design.

Step 4: Realize the Requirements

To realize the requirement of assigning a personal assistant, the company decides to “Provide Online Personal Assistant.”

Step 5: Improve Portfolio Management

The company aims to “Improve Portfolio Management” to better manage the personal assistants and their interactions with customers.

Step 6: Reduce Interaction with Customers

By providing an online personal assistant, the company aims to “Reduce Interaction with Customers,” thereby improving customer satisfaction.

ArchiMate Diagram

The following ArchiMate diagram visualizes the relationships among the drivers, goals, requirements, principles, and realizations in our example scenario:

Explanation of the Diagram

1. Technology Service: The overall service provided by the company.
2. CEO and CFO: Key stakeholders driving the architecture changes.
3. Customer Satisfaction: The driver for the CEO.
4. Costs: The driver for the CFO.
5. Reduce Manual Work: The goal to achieve cost reduction and improve customer satisfaction.
6. Reduce Interaction with Customers: An influence that helps achieve the goal.
7. Systems Should be Customer Facing: A principle guiding the architecture design.
8. Assign Personal Assistant: The requirement to achieve the goal.
9. Provide Online Personal Assistant: The realization of the requirement.
10. Improve Portfolio Management: An additional realization to support the requirement.

Conclusion

ArchiMate provides a structured and standardized way to describe, analyze, and visualize enterprise architecture. By using a learn-by-example approach, we’ve demonstrated how ArchiMate can be applied to a real-world scenario, helping a technology service company improve customer satisfaction by reducing manual work and interaction with customers.

Whether you’re new to ArchiMate or looking to deepen your understanding, this example should provide a solid foundation for your enterprise architecture modeling efforts.