Overview of ArchiMate Basic Views and Their Perspectives

Basic ArchiMate Views

ArchiMate basic views consist of elements and three main layers—business, application, and technology. The following tables list example viewpoints grouped into four categories (composition, support, collaboration, implementation), indicating their focus and scope.

Composition Views

Name

Viewpoint

Concern

Organization

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

Identify capabilities, authority, and responsibility

Information Structure

Shows the structure of information used within the enterprise.

Structure and dependencies of data and information, consistency and integrity

Technology

Infrastructure and platform of the enterprise information system (networks, devices, system software).

Stability, security, dependencies, 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 Views

Name

Viewpoint

Concern

Product

Shows the content of the product.

Product development and the value delivered by the enterprise product

Application Usage

Links applications to their usage in business processes.

Consistency and integrity, reduced complexity

Technology Usage

Shows how applications use technology.

Dependencies, performance, scalability

Collaboration Views

Name

Viewpoint

Concern

Business Process Collaboration

Shows relationships between various business processes.

Dependencies among business processes, consistency, responsibility

Application Collaboration

Shows application components and their interrelationships.

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

Implementation Views

Name

Viewpoint

Concern

Service Implementation

Shows how services are realized through required behaviors.

Added value of business processes, consistency, responsibility

Implementation & Deployment

Shows how applications map to underlying technology.

Structure of application platforms and their relationship to supporting technology

Information Structure View

What is the Information Structure View?

The information structure view works like a traditional information model created when developing an information system. It displays the structure of information used in the enterprise and can also show how business‑layer information is represented in the application layer as data structures, and how this information maps to the underlying technical infrastructure.

The table below details the information‑structure viewpoint.

Stakeholder

Domain and information architects

Concern

Structure and dependencies of data and information, consistency and integrity

Purpose

Design

Scope

Multi‑layer / single aspect

Elements

Business objects, representations, data objects, artifacts, meanings

Below is an example diagram of an ArchiMate model drawn from the information‑structure viewpoint.

Service Implementation View

What is the Service Implementation View?

The service implementation viewpoint models how business services are realized by underlying processes or application components.

The following table provides a detailed description of the service‑implementation viewpoint.

Stakeholder

Process and domain architects, product and operations managers

Concern

Added value of business processes, consistency, responsibility

Purpose

Design, decision making

Scope

Multi‑layer / multi‑aspect

Elements

Business actors, roles, collaborations, interfaces, processes, functions, interactions, events, services, objects, representations; application components, collaborations, interfaces, processes, functions, interactions, events, services; data objects

An example ArchiMate diagram drawn from the service‑implementation viewpoint is shown below.