ArchiMate is an open and independent enterprise architecture modeling language that provides a uniform representation for describing, analyzing, and visualizing architecture across business, application, and technology domains. It offers a common language for architects, stakeholders, and implementers to communicate about enterprise architecture.

Origins and History

ArchiMate was developed between 2002 and 2004 by a consortium led by the Telematica Instituut (now Novay) in the Netherlands, with participation from Dutch organizations including ABN AMRO, the Dutch Tax Office, and Leiden University Medical Center. The project was funded by the Dutch government’s innovation program. In 2008, The Open Group adopted ArchiMate as an official standard and has since maintained and evolved it. ArchiMate 2.0 (2012) extended the language with motivation and implementation elements. ArchiMate 3.0 (2016) added physical elements, strategy concepts, and improved alignment with TOGAF. The current version, ArchiMate 3.2 (2022), refined value streams and capability modeling.

Core Structure

ArchiMate organizes architecture into three layers. The Business Layer models business services, processes, functions, roles, and actors. The Application Layer represents software applications, components, interfaces, and data objects. The Technology Layer describes infrastructure, nodes, devices, networks, and system software. Cross-cutting aspects classify elements as active structure (who or what performs behavior), behavior (what is performed), and passive structure (what is acted upon). Additional extensions cover Strategy (capabilities, resources, value streams), Motivation (stakeholders, goals, requirements, principles), and Implementation and Migration (work packages, deliverables, plateaus).

Practical Applications

ArchiMate is commonly used with modeling tools such as Archi (open-source), BiZZdesign, and MEGA to create architecture viewpoints for different stakeholders, to perform impact analysis of proposed changes, and to document current and future state architectures during transformation programs.

Sources

  1. The Open Group (2022). ArchiMate 3.2 Specification. https://pubs.opengroup.org/architecture/archimate3-doc/
  2. Lankhorst, M. et al. (2005). “ArchiMate Language Primer.” Telematica Instituut.
  3. Lankhorst, M. (2017). Enterprise Architecture at Work, 4th ed. Springer.