Application Usage Viewpoint

The Application Usage viewpoint describes how applications are used to support one Org Process, 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 Org Processes upon applications, it may be useful to operational managers responsible for these processes.

The Node infrastructure viewpoint contains the comuting and communication hardware infrastructure elements supporting the application layer, such as physical devices or networks.

The Device infrastructure viewpoint contains the software and hardware infrastructure elements within a physical device, such as component physical devices or system software (e.g., operating systems, databases, and middleware).

The Infrastructure Usage viewpoint shows how applications are supported by the software and hardware infrastructure: the infrastructure 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.

The Implementation and Deployment viewpoint shows how one or more applications are realized on the infrastructure. This comprises the mapping of (logical) applications and components onto (physical) artifacts, such as Enterprise Java Beans, and the mapping of the information used by these applications and components onto the underlying storage infrastructure; e.g., database tables or other files. Deployment views play an important role in the analysis of performance and scalability, since they relate the physical infrastructure to the logical world of applications. In security and risk analysis, deployment views are used to identify, for example, critical dependencies and risks.

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 (business objects) is represented at the application level in the form of the data structures used there (data objects), and how these are then mapped onto the underlying infrastructure; e.g., by means of a database schema (artifact).

The Service Realization viewpoint is used to show how one business service is 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.

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” relation for a natural partitioning of the entire set of objects and relations that belong to a model. The infrastructure, the application, the process, and the actors/roles 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” relation a layer of services, which are further on “used by” 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 will 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 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.

A landscape map is a matrix that represents a three-dimensional coordinate system that represents architectural relations. The dimensions of the landscape maps can be freely chosen from the architecture that is being modeled. In practice, often dimensions are chosen from different architectural domains; for instance, business functions, application components, and products. Note that a landscape map uses the ArchiMate concepts, but not the standard notation of these concepts.

In most cases, the vertical axis represents behavior like business processes or functions; the horizontal axis represents “cases” for which those functions or processes must be executed, such as different products, services market segments, or scenarios; the third dimension represented by the cells of the matrix is used for assigning resources like information systems, infrastructure, or human resources. The value of cells can be visualized by means of colored rectangles with text labels. Obviously, landscape maps are a more powerful and expressive representation of relations than traditional cross tables. They provide a practical manner for the generation and publication of overview tables for managers, process, and system owners. Furthermore, architects may use landscape maps as a resource allocation instrument and as an analysis tool for the detection of patterns and changes in this allocation.