ArchiMate Basic Views and Viewpoints Overview

Basic Views

ArchiMate basic views consist of ArchiMate elements and the three main layers—Business, Application, and Technology. The following table lists ArchiMate 3.1 example viewpoints, grouped into four categories, indicating their direction and scope.

Composition: view that defines internal composition and aggregation of elements.

Support: view showing how an element is supported by elements in the layer above.

Collaboration: view of peer elements cooperating across different aspects.

Implementation: view of elements that implement other elements, typically from a higher to a lower layer.

Composition View

Name

Perspective

Focus

Organization

Structure of the enterprise in terms of roles, departments, etc.

Identify capabilities, authority, and responsibility

Information Structure

Shows the structure of information used in the enterprise.

Structure and dependencies of data and information, consistency and completeness

Technology

Infrastructure and platform of the enterprise information system such as networks, devices, and system software.

Stability, security, dependency, and cost of the infrastructure

Layering

Provides an overview of the architecture.

Consistency, reduced complexity, impact of change, flexibility

Physical

Physical environment and its relationship to IT infrastructure.

Relationships and dependencies of the physical environment with IT infrastructure

Support View

Name

Perspective

Focus

Product

Shows product content.

Product development, enterprise product value

Application Usage

Links applications to their usage in business processes, etc.

Consistency and completeness, reduced complexity

Technology Usage

Shows how applications use technology.

Dependencies, performance, scalability

Collaboration View

Name

Perspective

Focus

Business Process Collaboration

Shows relationships between various business processes.

Business processes, consistency and completeness, dependencies between responsibilities

Application Collaboration

Shows application components and their mutual relationships.

Relationships and dependencies between applications, service orchestration, consistency and completeness, reduced complexity

Implementation View

Name

Perspective

Focus

Service Implementation

Shows how services are realized through required behavior.

Value addition to business processes, consistency and completeness, responsibility

Implementation & Deployment

Shows how applications map to underlying technology.

Structure of application platforms and their relationship to supporting technology

Technical Viewpoint

What is the Technical Viewpoint?

The technical viewpoint shows how software and hardware technology elements (e.g., physical devices, networks, or system software such as OS, databases, middleware) support the application layer.

The table below describes the technical viewpoint in more detail.

Stakeholders

Infrastructure architects, operations managers

Focus

Stability, security, dependency, infrastructure cost

Purpose

Design

Scope

Single‑layer / multi‑angle

Elements

Location, node, technology collaboration, device, system software, technical interface, communication network, path, technical process/function/interaction, technical service, technical event, artifact

Technical Usage Viewpoint

The technical usage viewpoint shows how software and hardware technology support applications. It is often used for performance or scalability analysis because it links the physical infrastructure with the logical application world.

The table below provides a detailed description of the technical usage viewpoint.

Stakeholders

Applications, infrastructure architects, operations managers

Focus

Dependency, performance, scalability

Purpose

Design

Scope

Multi‑level / multi‑angle

Elements

Application component/collaboration, application process/function/interaction, application event, data object, node, device, technology collaboration, system software, technical interface, communication network, path, technical process/function/interaction, technical service, technical event, artifact

For further reading, see the original article at https://architect.pub/full-archimate-viewpoints-guide-examples-included-5-technology-and-technology-usage.