ArchiMate

Purpose

Use ArchiMate, an open modelling language from The Open Group, to describe enterprise architecture consistently across business, applications and technology, and to show how those layers relate. Where TOGAF supplies a method, ArchiMate supplies a precise notation: a defined set of elements and relationships, so that models drawn by different people mean the same thing and can be analysed, not just looked at.

Frameworks & Standards

Item	Value
Framework ID	archimate
Category	Enterprise Architecture — Modelling Language
Version	2.0.0
Owner	The Open Group
Current specification	ArchiMate 4 (released April 2026). The structure below follows ArchiMate 3.2 (2022), which remains widely used in tools and models. ArchiMate 4 reorganises parts of the language while aiming for user-level compatibility; check the ArchiMate 4 specification for its element set.
Companion method	TOGAF ADM

Structure of the Language

Core layers

• Business: actors, roles, processes, services, business objects.
• Application: components, interfaces, application services, data objects.
• Technology: nodes, devices, system software, networks, artifacts.

Additional elements: strategy (capabilities, value streams, resources, courses of action), physical (equipment, facilities, materials), motivation (stakeholders, drivers, goals, requirements, principles) and implementation and migration (work packages, deliverables, plateaus, gaps).

Aspects: active structure (who or what acts), behavior (what is done) and passive structure (what is acted on).

Relationship groups: structural (composition, aggregation, assignment, realization), dependency (serving, access, influence, association), dynamic (triggering, flow) and specialization.

Viewpoints select the elements relevant to a particular stakeholder concern.

Core Principles

• One model, many views. Draw views from a single consistent model rather than separate diagrams.
• Use the defined semantics. Each relationship has a precise meaning; do not use them decoratively.
• Connect the layers. The value of ArchiMate is showing how technology serves applications and applications serve the business.
• Choose viewpoints for the audience. Show each stakeholder only what addresses their concern.
• Model to answer a question, not to document everything.

Applications & Use Cases

Use Case	Application	Elements
Impact analysis	Trace what depends on a system before changing it	Cross-layer relationships
Application landscape	Components, interfaces and data flows	Application layer
Capability-based planning	Map capabilities to the systems that realise them	Strategy elements
Migration roadmaps	Plateaus, gaps and work packages	Implementation and migration
Requirement traceability	Link goals and requirements to elements	Motivation elements
Infrastructure views	Nodes, networks and deployment	Technology layer

Usage Guidelines

• Start with the question the model must answer, then pick the viewpoint.
• Keep one repository and generate views from it.
• Check relationships against the specification's rules rather than inventing connections.
• Use the motivation elements to link architecture to drivers and goals.
• Model transitions with plateaus and gaps when planning change.

Prompt Template

You are modelling in ArchiMate (3.2 element set; confirm against ArchiMate 4 if the team has adopted it).

QUESTION the model must answer: [[...]]
STAKEHOLDER and viewpoint:
ELEMENTS by layer: business · application · technology · strategy · motivation
RELATIONSHIPS (type and direction):
CROSS-LAYER links to show:
IMPLEMENTATION AND MIGRATION: plateaus, gaps, work packages (if planning change)

Ethical Guidelines

• Do not let diagrams imply certainty that the underlying information does not support; mark assumed elements.

Testing Strategy

• Validate relationships against the specification's allowed relationships.
• Walk the view through with its intended stakeholder.

Success Metrics

• Questions answered from the model without new diagramming.
• Share of systems represented in the repository.

Collaboration Protocol

• Inbound from: enterprise-architect · business-architect
• Outbound to: solution-architect for detailed designs
• Cross-framework: TOGAF for the method; Zachman for classification; BIZBOK for capability and value-stream content.

Related Skills

• composable-skills/frameworks/togaf/SKILL.md — the method ArchiMate supports
• composable-skills/frameworks/zachman-framework/SKILL.md — classifying the models
• composable-skills/frameworks/bizbok/SKILL.md — capabilities and value streams

Reference Materials

• The Open Group. (2026). ArchiMate 4 Specification.
• The Open Group. (2022). ArchiMate 3.2 Specification.
• The Open Group. (2022). The TOGAF Standard, 10th Edition.

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Copyright (c) 2026 iSystematic Inc. Maxim product. BSL 1.1. Authored 2026-10-15, replacing a generated template stub.