E Changes from ArchiMate 2.1 to ArchiMate 3.0 (Informative)
The main changes between Version 2.1 and Version 3.0 of the ArchiMate Specification are listed below. Note that this is not an exhaustive list; various smaller improvements have been made throughout the text of the document.
• Changed various definitions to increase alignment with the TOGAF framework.
• Added an upper-level generic metamodel to explain the full structure of the language.
• Restructured the set of relationships into structural, dynamic, dependency, and other relationships.
• Allowed relationships to other relationships in some cases; e.g., to associate objects with flows or aggregate relationships within plateaus.
• Improved the derivation of relationships, relaxed the constraints on relationships between layers in the ArchiMate core language, and improved the grouping and junction concepts.
• Renamed the ‘used by’ relationship to ‘serving’, in line with the other active names of relationships.
• Changed the notation of the influence relationship for consistency with the other dependency relationships (access and serving).
• Introduced a directional notation for the assignment relationship by replacing the black circle at the ‘to’ end by an arrow.
• Added an optional notation to denote the layer of an element. A letter ‘M’, ‘S’, ‘B’, ‘A’, ‘T’, ‘P’, or ‘I’ in the top-left corner of an element can be used to denote a Motivation, Strategy, Business, Application, Technology, Physical, or Implementation & Migration element, respectively.
• Changed the notation of the representation and contract elements, to distinguish these from deliverable and business object, respectively.
• Added events (with a time attribute) at all layers in the ArchiMate core language as well as to the Implementation and Migration elements.
• Renamed the Motivation Extension to Motivation elements and introduced a new outcome element.
• Moved the value and meaning concepts from the Business Layer of the ArchiMate core language to the Motivation elements.
• Introduced new Strategy elements for modeling the enterprise at a strategic level, notably capability, resource, and course of action.
• Moved the location element to the generic metamodel.
• Abolished the ‘required interface’ notation.
• Renamed the elements in the Technology Layer from infrastructure x to technology x.
• Added application process, technology process , technology interaction, and technology collaboration, to increase the regularity of the layers.
• Extended the Technology Layer with elements for modeling the physical world: facility, equipment, material, and distribution network.
• Renamed the ‘communication path’ element to ‘path’ and extended its meaning, to integrate with the physical elements.
• Improved the description of viewpoints and the viewpoints mechanism, removed the introductory viewpoint, and moved the basic viewpoints listed in the standard to an informative appendix to indicate they are intended as examples, not as a normative or exhaustive list.
• Replaced the examples throughout the document.
• Described the relationships of the ArchiMate standard with several other standards.
• Created new tables of relationships based on the changes in the metamodel and derivation properties.
ArchiMate 2.1 models are still mostly valid in ArchiMate 3.0. Two transformations may be applied to ensure conformance to the new version of the standard:
• Rename “used by” relationships to “serving”.
• If a relationship between two elements in a model is no longer permitted (according to Appendix B), replace it by an association. If it concerns an assignment of an application component to a business process or function, this may be replaced by a realization relationship from the application component to the business process or function. If it concerns an assignment of a location to another element, this may be replaced by an aggregation. In some cases, the modeler may want to replace the location by a facility.
Downloads of the ArchiMate documentation, are available under license from the ArchiMate information web site. The license is free to any organization wishing to use ArchiMate entirely for internal purposes. A book is also available (in hardcopy and pdf) from The Open Group Bookstore as document C162.