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This Document
This document is the ArchiMate® 3.1 Specification, a standard of The Open Group. It has been developed and approved by The Open Group.
This edition of the standard includes a number of corrections, clarifications, and improvements to the previous edition, as well as several additions.
Intended Audience
The intended audience of this standard is threefold:
• All those working to shape and implement complex organization change
Typical job titles include Enterprise Architecture practitioners, Business Architects, IT architects, application architects, data architects, information architects, process architects, infrastructure architects, software architects, systems architects, solutions architects, product/service managers, senior and operational management, project leaders, and anyone working within the reference framework defined by an Enterprise Architecture.
• Those who intend to implement the ArchiMate language in a software tool
They will find a complete and detailed description of the language in this document.
• The academic community, on which we rely for amending and improving the language based on state-of-the-art research in the architecture field
Structure
The structure of this standard is as follows:
• Chapter 1, Introduction, provides the introduction to this standard, including the objectives, a brief overview, conformance requirements, and terminology
• Chapter 2, Definitions, defines the general terms used in this standard
• Chapter 3, Language Structure, describes the structure of the ArchiMate modeling language, including the top-level structure, layering, the ArchiMate Core Framework, and the ArchiMate Full Framework
• Chapter 4, Generic Metamodel, describes the structure and elements of the ArchiMate generic metamodel
• Chapter 5, Relationships, describes the relationships in the language
• Chapter 6, Motivation Elements, describes the concepts for expressing the motivation for an architecture, together with examples
• Chapter 7, Strategy Elements, provides elements for modeling the enterprise at a strategic level, together with examples
• Chapter 8, Business Layer, covers the definition and usage of the Business Layer elements, together with examples
• Chapter 9, Application Layer, covers the definition and usage of the Application Layer elements, together with examples
• Chapter 10, Technology Layer, covers the definition and usage of the Technology Layer elements, together with examples
• Chapter 11, Physical Elements, describes the language elements for modeling the physical world, together with examples
• Chapter 12, Relationships Between Core Layers, covers the relationships between different layers of the language
• Chapter 13, Implementation and Migration Elements, describes the language elements for expressing the implementation and migration aspects of an architecture (e.g., projects, programs, plateaus, and gaps)
• Chapter 14, Stakeholders, Architecture Views, and Viewpoints, describes the ArchiMate viewpoint mechanism
• Chapter 15, Language Customization Mechanisms, describes how to customize the ArchiMate language for specialized or domain-specific purposes
• Appendix A, Summary of Language Notation, is an informative appendix
• Appendix B, Relationships, is a normative appendix detailing the required relationships between elements of the language and the rules to derive these
• Appendix C, Example Viewpoints, presents a set of architecture viewpoints, developed in ArchiMate notation based on practical experience
All viewpoints are described in detail. The appendix specifies the elements, relationships, usage guidelines, goals, and target groups for each viewpoint.
• Appendix D, Relationship to Other Standards, Specifications, and Guidance Documents, describes the relationships of the ArchiMate language to other standards and specifications, including the TOGAF® framework, the BIZBOK® Guide, BPMN™, UML®, and BMM™
• Appendix E, Changes from Version 2.1 to Version 3.1, is an informative appendix outlining the changes in the standard between Version 2.1 and Version 3.1
Trademarks
ArchiMate®, DirecNet®, Making Standards Work®, Open O® logo, Open O and Check® Certification logo, OpenPegasus®, Platform 3.0®, The Open Group®, TOGAF®, UNIX®, UNIXWARE®, and the Open Brand X® logo are registered trademarks and Agile Architecture Framework™, Boundaryless Information Flow™, Build with Integrity Buy with Confidence™, Dependability Through Assuredness™, Digital Practitioner Body of Knowledge™, DPBoK™, EMMM™, FACE™, the FACE™ logo, IT4IT™, the IT4IT™ logo, O-AAF™, O-DEF™, O-HERA™, O-PAS™, Open FAIR™, Open Platform 3.0™, Open Process Automation™, Open Subsurface Data Universe™, Open Trusted Technology Provider™, O-SDU™, Sensor Integration Simplified™, SOSA™, and the SOSA™ logo are trademarks of The Open Group.
A Guide to the Business Architecture Body of Knowledge® and BIZBOK® are registered trademarks of the Business Architecture Guild.
Java® is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
UML® and Unified Modeling Language® are registered trademarks and BMM™, BPMN™, Business Motivation Model™, and Business Process Modeling Notation™ are trademarks of the Object Management Group.
All other brands, company, and product names are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks that are the sole property of their respective owners.
The Open Group gratefully acknowledges The Open Group ArchiMate Forum for developing this standard.
The Open Group gratefully acknowledges the contribution of the following people in the development of this and earlier versions of this standard:
• Iver Band, EA Principals & Cambia Health Solutions
• Thorbjørn Ellefsen, Capgemini
• William Estrem, Metaplexity Associates
• Maria-Eugenia Iacob, University of Twente
• Henk Jonkers, BiZZdesign
• Marc M. Lankhorst, BiZZdesign
• Dag Nilsen, Biner
• Carlo Poli, Macaw
• Erik (H.A.) Proper, Luxembourg Institute for Science and Technology & Radboud University Nijmegen
• Dick A.C. Quartel, BiZZdesign
• G. Edward Roberts, Elparazim
• Jean-Baptiste Sarrodie, Accenture
• Serge Thorn, Metaplexity Fellow
The Open Group and ArchiMate project team would like to thank in particular the following individuals for their support and review of this and earlier versions of this standard:
• Adina Aldea
• Mary Beijleveld
• Alexander Bielowski
• Remco de Boer
• Adrian Campbell
• John Coleshaw
• Jörgen Dahlberg
• Garry Doherty
• Ingvar Elmér
• Wilco Engelsman
• Roland Ettema
• Henry M. Franken
• Mats Gejnevall
• Sonia González
• Kirk Hansen
• Jos van Hillegersberg
• Andrew Josey
• Ryan Kennedy
• Louw Labuschagne
• Antoine Lonjon
• Veer Muchandi
• Michelle Nieuwoudt
• Erwin Oord
• Antonio Plais, Centus
• Daniel Simon
• Gerben Wierda
• Egon Willemsz
The first version of this standard was largely produced by the ArchiMate project. The Open Group gratefully acknowledges the contribution of the many people – former members of the project team – who have contributed to it.
The ArchiMate project comprised the following organizations:
• ABN AMRO
• Centrum voor Wiskunde en Informatica
• Dutch Tax and Customs Administration
• Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
• Novay
• Ordina
• Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen
• Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP
The following documents are referenced in this standard. These references are informative.
(Please note that the links below are good at the time of writing but cannot be guaranteed for the future.)
[1] Enterprise Architecture at Work: Modeling, Communication, and Analysis, Third Edition, M.M. Lankhorst et al., Springer, 2013.
[2] The Anatomy of the ArchiMate® Language, M.M. Lankhorst, H.A. Proper, H. Jonkers, International Journal of Information Systems Modeling and Design (IJISMD), 1(1):1-32, January-March 2010.
[3] Extending Enterprise Architecture Modeling with Business Goals and Requirements, W. Engelsman, D.A.C. Quartel, H. Jonkers, M.J. van Sinderen, Enterprise Information Systems, 5(1):9-36, 2011.
[4] TOGAF® Version 9.2, The Open Group Standard (C182), April 2018, published by The Open Group; refer to: www.opengroup.org/library/c182.
[5] Extending and Formalizing the Framework for Information Systems Architecture, J.F. Sowa, J.A. Zachman, IBM Systems Journal, Volume 31, No. 3, pp.590-616, 1992.
[6] TOGAF® Framework and ArchiMate® Modeling Language Harmonization: A Practitioner’s Guide to Using the TOGAF® Framework and the ArchiMate® Language, White Paper (W14C), December 2014, published by The Open Group; refer to: www.opengroup.org/library/w14c.
[7] Unified Modeling Language®: Superstructure, Version 2.0 (formal/05-07-04), Object Management Group, August 2005.
[8] Unified Modeling Language®: Infrastructure, Version 2.4.1 (formal/201-08-05), Object Management Group, August 2011.
[9] A Business Process Design Language, H. Eertink, W. Janssen, P. Oude Luttighuis, W. Teeuw, C. Vissers, in Proceedings of the First World Congress on Formal Methods, Toulouse, France, September 1999.
[10] Enterprise Business Architecture: The Formal Link Between Strategy and Results, R. Whittle, C.B. Myrick, CRC Press, 2004.
[11] Composition of Relations in Enterprise Architecture, R. van Buuren, H. Jonkers, M.E. Iacob, P. Strating, in Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Graph Transformation, pp.39-53, edited by H. Ehrig et al., Rome, Italy, 2004.
[12] Business Process Modeling Notation™ (BPMN™), Version 2.0 (formal/2011-01-03), Object Management Group, 2011.
[13] Performance and Cost Analysis of Service-Oriented Enterprise Architectures, H. Jonkers, M.E. Iacob, in Global Implications of Modern Enterprise Information Systems: Technologies and Applications, edited by A. Gunasekaran, IGI Global, 2009.
[14] ISO/IEC 42010:2011, Systems and Software Engineering – Recommended Practice for Architectural Description of Software-Intensive Systems, Edition 1.
[15] Business Motivation Model™ (BMM™), Version 1.1 (formal/2010-05-01), Object Management Group, 2010.
[16] Using the ArchiMate® Language with UML®, White Paper (W134), September 2013, published by The Open Group; refer to: www.opengroup.org/library/w134.
[17] TOGAF® Series Guide: Value Streams (G178), October 2017, published by The Open Group: refer to: www.opengroup.org/library/g178.
[18] Business Architecture Guild. A Guide to the Business Architecture Body of Knowledge® (BIZBOK® Guide), Version 7.0, 2018; refer to: www.businessarchitectureguild.org.
[19] TOGAF® Series Guide: The TOGAF® Technical Reference Model (TRM) (G175), September 2017, published by The Open Group: refer to: www.opengroup.org/library/g175.
[20] ArchiMate® Model Exchange File Format for the ArchiMate Modeling Language, Version 3.0, The Open Group Standard (C174), May 2017, published by The Open Group; refer to: www.opengroup.org/library/c174.
Downloads of the ArchiMate documentation are available under license from the Download link within the ArchiMate information web site. The license is free to any organization wishing to use ArchiMate documentation entirely for internal purposes. A book is also available from The Open Group Library as document C197.