ArchiMate is a powerful enterprise architecture modeling language that helps organizations describe, analyze, and visualize their architectures. One of the key aspects of ArchiMate is its ability to define various types of relationships between different elements within the architecture. These relationships help in understanding how different components interact and depend on each other. This guide will provide a detailed overview of five essential ArchiMate relationship types: Composition, Assignment, Realization, Serving, and Triggering.
1. Composition Relationship
Definition
The Composition relationship is a structural relationship that indicates that an element is made up of one or more other elements. The composite element cannot exist without its constituent parts. This relationship is crucial for understanding the hierarchical structure of elements within the architecture.
Example
A “Customer Relationship Management System” application component might be composed of several smaller application components, such as “Customer Database,” “Interaction Handling,” and “Reporting.”
Visual Representation
In ArchiMate diagrams, the composition relationship is typically represented by a solid line with a black diamond at the end of the composite element.
Use Cases
- Application Layer: Defining how complex application components are built from smaller, reusable components.
- Business Layer: Showing how business processes are composed of various sub-processes or activities.
2. Assignment Relationship
Definition
The Assignment relationship is a structural relationship that shows the allocation of responsibility, performance of behavior, or execution. It links active structure elements with units of behavior, business actors with business roles, and nodes with technology objects.
Example
A “Customer Service Representative” business role could be assigned to the “Handle Customer Inquiry” business process.
Visual Representation
The assignment relationship is usually depicted by a dashed line with an open arrowhead pointing from the active structure element to the behavior element.
Use Cases
- Business Layer: Assigning business roles to specific business processes or functions.
- Technology Layer: Allocating technology objects to nodes within the infrastructure.
3. Realization Relationship
Definition
The Realization relationship is a dependency relationship that connects a logical entity with a more concrete entity that implements it. It often links elements across different layers, illustrating how higher-level concepts are realized by lower-level elements.
Example
A “Customer Database” data object in the Application Layer realizing a “Customer Information” business object in the Business Layer.
Visual Representation
The realization relationship is represented by a dashed line with a hollow triangle arrowhead pointing from the logical entity to the concrete entity.
Use Cases
- Cross-Layer Mapping: Showing how business objects are realized by application components.
- Service Implementation: Illustrating how business services are realized by application services.
4. Serving Relationship
Definition
The Serving relationship is a dependency relationship that represents that one element provides its functionality to another element. It signifies that an element supports or enables the functionality of another element.
Example
A “Payment Gateway” application service might serve the “Process Online Payment” business process.
Visual Representation
The serving relationship is depicted by a dashed line with an open arrowhead pointing from the serving element to the served element.
Use Cases
- Service Dependencies: Illustrating how application services support business processes.
- Infrastructure Support: Showing how technology services support application components.
5. Triggering Relationship
Definition
The Triggering relationship is a dynamic relationship that describes a temporal or causal relationship between elements, indicating that one element initiates or activates another. It highlights the order and sequence of actions within a process or interaction.
Example
The “Customer Submits Order” business event might trigger the “Process Order” business process.
Visual Representation
The triggering relationship is represented by a solid line with an open arrowhead pointing from the triggering element to the triggered element.
Use Cases
- Process Flow: Defining the sequence of business events and processes.
- Interaction Modeling: Showing how different components interact and trigger each other in real-time systems.
Recommended Tool: Visual Paradigm
For effective modeling of ArchiMate relationships, Visual Paradigm is the preferred tool. It offers a comprehensive suite of features that support all aspects of ArchiMate modeling, including:
- Intuitive Diagramming: Easy-to-use tools for creating ArchiMate diagrams with various relationship types.
- Collaboration Features: Enables team collaboration with shared diagrams and real-time editing.
- Compliance with Standards: Fully compliant with the ArchiMate 3.1 specification, ensuring accuracy and consistency in your models.
- Extensive Templates and Examples: Provides a wide range of templates and examples to help you get started quickly.
References
- ArchiMate 3.1 Specification – The official specification provides detailed information on all relationship types and their usage within the ArchiMate framework26.
- Visual Paradigm ArchiMate Resources – Comprehensive guides and examples on using ArchiMate relationships in enterprise architecture modeling16.
- ArchiMate Viewpoints and Relationships – Detailed explanations and examples of how different viewpoints utilize ArchiMate relationships to represent various aspects of the architecture21.
By understanding and effectively using these ArchiMate relationships, architects can create clear, comprehensive, and meaningful models of their enterprise architecture. These models help in communicating the architecture’s structure, dependencies, and dynamics to various stakeholders, ensuring better alignment and collaboration across the organization.