ArchiMate Category: Basic

Business Process Cooperation Viewpoint : Archimate

Purpose: Designing, deciding

Concerns: Dependencies between business processes, consistency and completeness, responsibilities

Scope: Multiple layer/Multiple aspect

The business process cooperation viewpoint is used to show the relationships of one or more business processes with each other and/or with their environment. It can be used both to create a high-level design of business processes within their context and to provide an operational manager responsible for one or more such processes with insight into their dependencies. Important aspects of business process cooperation are:

  • Causal relationships between the main business processes of the enterprise
  • Mapping of business processes onto business functions
  • Realization of services by business processes
  • Use of shared data

Each of these can be regarded as a “sub-viewpoint” of the business process cooperation viewpoint.

BusinessProcessCoopViewpoint.docx

Application Usage Viewpoint : Archimate

Purpose: Designing, deciding

Concerns: Consistency and completeness, reduction of complexity

Scope: Multiple layer/Multiple aspect

The application usage viewpoint describes how applications are used to support one or more business processes, and how they are used by other applications. It can be used in designing an application by identifying the services needed by business processes and other applications, or in designing business processes by describing the services that are available. Furthermore, since it identifies the dependencies of business processes upon applications, it may be useful to operational managers responsible for these processes.

Abstraction Level
Coherence

Layer
Business and application layers

Aspects
Behavior, active structure, passive structure

ApplicationUsageViewpoint_1

Technology Viewpoint : Archimate

Concerns: Stability, security, dependencies, costs of the infrastructure
Purpose: Designing
Scope: Single layer/Multiple aspect

The technology viewpoint contains the software and hardware technology elements supporting the Application Layer, such as physical devices, networks, or system software (e.g., operating systems, databases, and middleware).

Technology Usage Viewpoint : Archimate

Concerns: Dependencies, performance, scalability
Purpose: Designing
Scope: Multiple layer/Multiple aspect

The technology usage viewpoint shows how applications are supported by the software and hardware technology: the technology services are delivered by the devices; system software and networks are provided to the applications. This viewpoint plays an important role in the analysis of performance and scalability, since it relates the physical infrastructure to the logical world of applications. It is very useful in determining the performance and quality requirements on the infrastructure based on the demands of the various applications that use it.

Information Structure Viewpoint : Archimate

Concerns: Structure and dependencies of the used data and information, consistency and completeness
Purpose: Designing
Scope: Multiple layer/Single aspect

The information structure viewpoint is comparable to the traditional information models created in the development of almost any information system. It shows the structure of the information used in the enterprise or in a specific business process or application, in terms of data types or (object-oriented) class structures. Furthermore, it may show how the information at the business level is represented at the application level in the form of the data structures used there, and how these are then mapped onto the underlying technology infrastructure; e.g., by means of a database schema.

Service Realization Viewpoint : Archimate

Concerns: Added-value of business processes, consistency and completeness, responsibilities
Purpose: Designing, deciding
Scope: Multiple layer/Multiple aspect

The service realization viewpoint is used to show how one or more business services are realized by the underlying processes (and sometimes by application components). Thus, it forms the bridge between the business products viewpoint and the business process view. It provides a “view from the outside” on one or more business processes.

Physical Viewpoint : Archimate

Concerns: Relationships and dependencies of the physical environment and how this relates to IT infrastructure
Purpose: Designing
Scope: Multiple layer/Multiple aspect

The physical viewpoint contains equipment (one or more physical machines, tools, or instruments) that can create, use, store, move, or transform materials, how the equipment is connected via the distribution network, and what other active elements are assigned to the equipment.

Layered Viewpoint : Archimate

Concerns: Consistency, reduction of complexity, impact of change, flexibility
Purpose: Designing, deciding, informing
Scope: Multiple layer/Multiple aspect

The layered viewpoint pictures several layers and aspects of an Enterprise Architecture in one diagram. There are two categories of layers, namely dedicated layers and service layers. The layers are the result of the use of the “grouping” relationship for a natural partitioning of the entire set of objects and relationships that belong to a model. The technology, application, process, and actor/role layers belong to the first category. The structural principle behind a fully layered viewpoint is that each dedicated layer exposes, by means of the “realization” relationship, a layer of services, which are further on “serving” the next dedicated layer. Thus, we can easily separate the internal structure and organization of a dedicated layer from its externally observable behavior expressed as the service layer that the dedicated layer realizes. The order, number, or nature of these layers are not fixed, but in general a (more or less) complete and natural layering of an ArchiMate model should contain the succession of layers depicted in the example given below. However, this example is by no means intended to be prescriptive. The main goal of the layered viewpoint is to provide an overview in one diagram. Furthermore, this viewpoint can be used as support for impact of change analysis and performance analysis or for extending the service portfolio.

All core elements and all relationships are permitted in this viewpoint.

Organization Viewpoint : Archimate

Concerns: Identification of competencies, authority, and responsibilities
Purpose: Designing, deciding, informing
Scope: Single layer/Single aspect

The organization viewpoint focuses on the (internal) organization of a company, department, network of companies, or of another organizational entity. It is possible to present models in this viewpoint as nested block diagrams, but also in a more traditional way, such as organizational charts. The organization viewpoint is very useful in identifying competencies, authority, and responsibilities in an organization.