ArchiMate Framework and Metamodel
The layers and aspects grid
ArchiMate organizes models into layers (Business, Application, Technology) plus motivation, implementation & migration, and strategy extensions. Each layer has the same aspect structure: active structure, behaviour, passive structure, and services. This repetition is deliberate - it lets you trace a concern across layers.
Key metamodel facts to memorize
- Business layer: Business Actor, Role, Collaboration (active); Business Process, Function, Interaction (behaviour); Business Object (passive); Business Service (service).
- Application layer: Application Component, Collaboration (active); Application Function, Interaction (behaviour); Data Object (passive); Application Service (service).
- Technology layer: Node, Device, System Software, Communication Network (active); Infrastructure Function, Process (behaviour); Artifact (passive); Infrastructure Service (service).
The cross-layer rule
A higher layer uses a lower layer's services via Serving relationships. An Application Component is assigned to a Node; a Business Process is realized by an Application Service. Questions often test whether you know that Assignment links active structure to behaviour (a role assigned to a process), while Realization links behaviour to services.
Trap: Strategy and Motivation layers
Motivation elements (Driver, Goal, Outcome, Principle, Requirement, Constraint) do not use Serving to reach business elements; they use Influence and Realization in the motivation sense. The Strategy layer introduces Capability, Resource, and Course of Action - often confused with Business Function.
Rule of thumb
Draw the layer grid mentally: for any element, ask which layer and which aspect? That fixes both its valid relationships and its notation colour.