ArchiMate 3 Foundation cheat sheet

ArchiMate defines three core aspect layers of modeling concepts: active structure (who/what acts), behavior (what happens), and passive structure (what is acted upon).

Each element is assigned to a layer: Business, Application, or Technology; Strategy, Motivation, and Implementation & Migration extend beyond the core three.

Relationships include structural (composition, aggregation, realization, assignment), dependency (serving, access, influence), dynamic (triggering, flow), and other (specialization, association, junction).

Composition is a strong whole-part relation drawn as a filled diamond; aggregation is a weak whole-part relation drawn as an open diamond.

Realization means one element plays a more concrete role toward a more abstract element (e.g., a service realizes a business service); drawn as a dashed line with a hollow triangle.

Serving means one element provides functionality to another; drawn as a dashed line with an open arrowhead, direction from provider to consumer.

Assignment links an active structure element to the behavior it performs or the passive element it holds; drawn as a solid line with an open arrowhead.

Specialization is a generalization relation drawn as a solid line with a hollow triangle; junction is used to combine or split relationships such as triggering or flow.

The ArchiMate framework is a 2D grid: rows are aspects (active structure, behavior, passive structure) and columns are layers (Business, Application, Technology, plus Physical, Strategy, Motivation, Implementation & Migration).

The core metamodel defines generic element types (active structure element, behavior element, passive structure element) that are specialized per layer.

Business layer specializes into business actors, roles, collaborations, interfaces, services, processes, functions, events, objects, and representations.

Application layer specializes into application components, collaborations, interfaces, services, functions, processes, events, data objects, and interactions.

Technology layer specializes into nodes, devices, system software, communication networks, services, functions, processes, events, artifacts, and paths.

Cross-layer relations are allowed only where the metamodel permits; e.g., a business service may be realized by an application service via a serving relation.

A relationship between elements in different layers must respect allowed source/target type combinations defined by the metamodel, not arbitrary connections.

The metamodel distinguishes structural from behavioral elements; a passive element (e.g., data object) cannot perform behavior, only be accessed or realized.

A view is a selection of a model relevant to a stakeholder; a viewpoint is the specification (conventions) that defines how such a view is constructed.

Layered viewpoint shows the vertical alignment across business, application, and technology layers and is used to show how services are supported end to end.

Organization viewpoint focuses on the internal structure of an enterprise: actors, roles, collaborations, and their relationships.

Process viewpoint models business processes, their sub-processes, and the objects and services they use or produce.

Application usage viewpoint shows how applications support business processes and how they relate to each other via services.

Technology usage viewpoint shows how technology infrastructure supports applications and business processes.

Implementation and migration viewpoint shows programs, projects, plateaus, and gaps needed to move from current to target state.

A view should answer a specific stakeholder concern; adding elements not relevant to that concern reduces view clarity and is discouraged.

ArchiMate is an open, vendor-neutral modeling language for enterprise architecture, standardized by The Open Group.

The language is intended for describing, analyzing, and visualizing enterprise architecture across business, application, and technology domains.

Models support impact analysis, gap analysis, and roadmap planning when combined with implementation & migration elements.

ArchiMate complements, rather than replaces, other notations; it can be combined with BPMN for detailed process modeling and UML for software design.

Model exchange is supported through an XML-based interchange format so models can move between tools.

Certification levels include Foundation and Practitioner; Foundation tests knowledge of concepts, notation, and basic modeling.

A model element should be given a name and, where useful, a description; unnamed elements reduce model readability and reuse.

Traceability from motivation (goals, requirements) through behavior and structure to implementation supports architecture governance and change management.