Archives: Templates

Templates and model types in the QualiWare platform.

Requirements Realization Viewpoint : Archimate

Concerns: Architecture strategy and tactics, motivation
Purpose: Designing, deciding, informing
Scope: Motivation

The requirements realization viewpoint allows the designer to model the realization of requirements by the core elements, such as business actors, business services, business processes, application services, application components, etc. Typically, the requirements result from the goal refinement viewpoint.

In addition, this viewpoint can be used to refine requirements into more detailed requirements. The aggregation relationship is used for this purpose.

Motivation Viewpoint : Archimate

Concerns: Architecture strategy and tactics, motivation
Purpose: Designing, deciding, informing
Scope: Motivation

The motivation viewpoint allows the designer or analyst to model the motivation aspect, without focusing on certain elements within this aspect. For example, this viewpoint can be used to present a complete or partial overview of the motivation aspect by relating stakeholders, their primary goals, the principles that are applied, and the main requirements on services, processes, applications, and objects.

Strategy Viewpoint : Archimate

Concerns: Strategy development
Purpose: Designing, deciding
Scope: Strategy

The strategy viewpoint allows the business architect to model a high-level, strategic overview of the strategies (courses of action) of the enterprise, the capabilities and resources supporting those, and the envisaged outcomes.

Capability Map Viewpoint : Archimate

Concerns: Architecture strategy and tactics, motivation
Purpose: Designing, deciding
Scope: Strategy

The capability map viewpoint allows the business architect to create a structured overview of the capabilities of the enterprise. A capability map typically shows two or three levels of capabilities across the entire enterprise. It can, for example, be used as a heat map to identify areas of investment. In some cases, a capability map may also show specific outcomes delivered by these capabilities.

Outcome Realization Viewpoint : Archimate

Concerns: Business-oriented results
Purpose: Designing, deciding
Scope: Strategy

The outcome realization viewpoint is used to show how the highest-level, business-oriented results are produced by the capabilities and underlying core elements.

Resource Map Viewpoint : Archimate

Concerns: Architecture strategy and tactics, motivation
Purpose: Designing, deciding
Scope: Strategy

The resource map viewpoint allows the business architect to create a structured overview of the resources of the enterprise. A resource map typically shows two or three levels of resources across the entire enterprise. It can, for example, be used as a heat map to identify areas of investment. In some cases, a resource map may also show relationships between resources and the capabilities they are assigned to.

Project Viewpoint : Archimate

Concerns: Architecture vision and policies, motivation
Purpose: Deciding, informing
Scope: Implementation and Migration

A project viewpoint is primarily used to model the management of architecture change. The “architecture” of the migration process from an old situation (current state Enterprise Architecture) to a new desired situation (target state Enterprise Architecture) has significant consequences on the medium and long-term growth strategy and the subsequent decision-making process. Some of the issues that should be taken into account by the models designed in this viewpoint are:

  • Developing a fully-fledged organization-wide Enterprise Architecture is a task that may require several years.
  • All systems and services must remain operational regardless of the presumed modifications and changes of the Enterprise Architecture during the change process.
  • The change process may have to deal with immature technology standards (e.g., messaging, security, data, etc.).
  • The change has serious consequences for the personnel, culture, way of working, and organization.

Furthermore, there are several other governance aspects that might constrain the transformation process, such as internal and external cooperation, project portfolio management, project management (deliverables, goals, etc.), plateau planning, financial and legal aspects, etc.

Migration Viewpoint : Archimate

Concerns: History of models
Purpose: Designing, deciding, informing
Scope: Implementation and Migration

The migration viewpoint entails models and concepts that can be used for specifying the transition from an existing architecture to a desired architecture.

Implement Migration Viewpoint : Archimate

Concerns: Architecture vision and policies, motivation
Purpose: Deciding, informing
Scope: Multiple layer/Multiple aspect

The implementation and migration viewpoint is used to relate programs and projects to the parts of the architecture that they implement. This view allows modeling of the scope of programs, projects, project activities in terms of the plateaus that are realized or the individual architecture elements that are affected. In addition, the way the elements are affected may be indicated by annotating the relationships.

Furthermore, this viewpoint can be used in combination with the programs and projects viewpoint to support portfolio management:

  • The programs and projects viewpoint is suited to relate business goals to programs and projects. For example, this makes it possible to analyze at a high level whether all business goals are covered sufficiently by the current portfolio(s).
  • The implementation and migration viewpoint is suited to relate business goals (and requirements) via programs and projects to (parts of) the architecture. For example, this makes it possible to analyze potential overlap between project activities or to analyze the consistency between project dependencies and dependencies among plateaus or architecture elements.

 

Application Architecture Diagram

Purpose: The purpose of an Application Architecture Diagram is to show the structure of an Information System and its relations to other Information Systems.

Core concerns: The Application Architecture Diagram is used to document the application/systems layer. It can show information flows and system dependencies between Information Systems as well as depict system components and system areas.

The above picture shows an example of an Application Architecture Diagram depicting an overview of the Information Systems related to BEO. The information systems are connected by arrows that symbolize system dependencies.

Other functionalities: Application Architecture Diagrams can be analyzed in QualiWare via the toolbar for Application Portfolio Management. The Application Portfolio Management tools offers analysis for redundant functionalities, performance matrix generation, system heat map generation, asset lifecycle view (se below picture), lifecycle dependencies, and capabilities delivered by multiple information systems.

The above picture shows the Asset Lifecycle of the Information System ‘BEO’ and the Information Systems related to it is shown. The information depicted is pulled from the Information Systems’ metadata.

Relation to other templates: The elements depicted in the Application Architecture Diagram can be described in further detail in another Application Architecture Diagram, or in related diagrams such as a Data Flow Diagram.

The above picture shows an example of a more detailed view of an information system. In this Application Architecture Diagram the System Components are visible.

For documentation of a physical or hardware layer, the Infrastructure Diagram template can be used.

Properties and metadata: The Application Architecture Diagram can for example retain the following information:

  • A description of the diagram
  • Link to the owner of the application architecture
  • Link to the one responsible for the application architecture
  • Associated documents, diagrams and other objects
  • Inherent Risk detailing risk considerations
  • Governance information detailing information about the published diagram and who has been involved in the approval of the diagram

The above picture shows the properties dialogue window for the Application Architecture Diagram where you can view and edit the diagram’s properties.