ArchiMate® 3 – Foundation and Practitioner

The Application Layer

Focuses on the Application Layer of the ArchiMate® language, which models the structure, behaviour, and data of software applications that support business functions.

• Understanding Application Architecture: Learn how to represent application components, services, and their interactions. Application components perform automated behaviours, often grouped into collaborations, and expose functionality through defined interfaces.
• Modelling Behaviour and Services: Application functions, processes, and interactions describe how software performs specific tasks or workflows. These behaviours result in application services, units of functionality offered to users or other systems. Events represent triggers or occurrences that initiate application behaviours.
• Handling Data Objects: Use data objects to model structured information used or produced by applications. These can be visualised in cooperation and usage views to show how data flows through systems.
• Visualising Application Structure: Participants will learn to create integrated views that illustrate how business processes interact with application services and data, supporting effective design, integration, and automation of enterprise systems.

You will understand how to model the internal workings and external interfaces of application systems, supporting clearer system design, integration, and automation.

The Technology Layer

Explores the Technology Layer of the ArchiMate® language, which models the infrastructure and system software that enable application and business services.

• Understanding Technology Modelling: Learn how to represent both physical and logical infrastructure components such as devices, system software, nodes, and communication networks. These elements describe the environment in which applications are executed and data is processed or transferred.
• Modelling Behaviour and Services: Use technology behaviour elements, functions, processes, interactions, services, and events, to describe how infrastructure supports automated tasks and system-level operations. Understand how these behaviours deliver services that support applications and ultimately the business.
• Representing Artefacts: The artifact element captures deployable or operational assets, such as data files, configuration items, or executable software, which are crucial to system functioning.
• Building Coherent Infrastructure Views: By applying relevant viewpoints, participants will learn to model how technology components interact and support the application layer. This enables clear visualisation of system architecture, deployment strategies, and IT infrastructure planning.

You will be able to model infrastructure elements, behaviours, and services in a structured way, supporting reliable, scalable, and maintainable enterprise systems.

Modelling Physical Elements

Introduces the Physical Elements of the ArchiMate® language, which allow architects to model tangible infrastructure and resources involved in material production, movement, or transformation.

• Understanding Physical Modelling: Learn how to represent real-world assets such as equipment, facilities, and distribution networks, and understand their role within the broader enterprise architecture.
• Modelling Structure and Behaviour: Physical elements like equipment and facilities are used to model operational infrastructure, while distribution networks represent physical paths for transporting materials or energy. Though the physical domain does not define separate behaviour elements, technology behaviour elements are reused to capture physical processes.
• Representing Materials and Resources: The material element allows architects to represent physical substances used or produced by business or technology functions, linking physical and digital systems within the model.
• Connecting the Physical World to Architecture: Participants will learn to incorporate physical elements into enterprise models, supporting integrated views that span physical infrastructure, IoT systems, and digital transformation initiatives.

You will understand how to model the physical world within enterprise architecture, supporting comprehensive views that connect technology, infrastructure, and material flows.

Relationships between Core Layers

Focuses on how to model the relationships between the Business, Application, and Technology Layers of the ArchiMate® language, enabling you to create integrated, multi-layered architecture models.

• Understanding Cross-Layer Relationships: Learn how to represent the dependencies and interactions between layers using two primary relationships, Serving and Realisation. These are used consistently to link business processes to applications, and applications to the supporting technology infrastructure.
• Practical Use of Relationships: Serving relationships describe how services in one layer support functions or roles in another. Realisation relationships show how higher-level functions are delivered by lower-level components. These links ensure that architectural elements are connected from strategy to execution.
• Derived Relationships: Explore how indirect relationships between layers can be inferred using derivation rules. For example, a technology object may be shown to realise a business object indirectly through intermediate layers.
• Integrated Modelling for Clarity: By understanding and applying these relationships, participants will be able to build models that reveal how business needs are supported by systems and infrastructure, providing clearer traceability and support across the enterprise.

You will be able to model and analyse how enterprise layers are interlinked, supporting business objectives, application services, and the underlying technology landscape.

The Implementation and Migration Layer

Covers the Implementation and Migration Layer of the ArchiMate® language, focusing on how to model the transition from a current architecture to a future state.

• Understanding Implementation and Migration Modelling: Learn how to represent and structure change initiatives using key concepts such as work packages, deliverables, events, plateaus, and gaps. These elements allow architects to visualise project activities, state transitions, and the outcomes of transformation efforts.
• Key Modelling Elements: Work packages define time-bound actions aimed at delivering change. Deliverables represent the outputs of these efforts, while implementation events capture significant changes that affect or trigger progress. Plateaus describe stable architectural states over time, and gaps identify the differences between these states, highlighting what needs to change.
• Integrating Change into Architecture Models: Understand how to connect implementation and migration elements with motivation and core layers to ensure planned change is clearly traceable to strategic objectives and architectural structures.
• Applying Viewpoints for Transformation Planning: Use viewpoints such as the Project Viewpoint, Migration Viewpoint, and Implementation and Migration Viewpoint to communicate plans, map transitions, and structure initiatives in a way that is meaningful for stakeholders.

You will be able to model and plan enterprise transformation effectively, bridging strategy and execution through structured change modelling.

Addressing Stakeholder Concerns with Architecture Views and Viewpoints

Introduces the ArchiMate® viewpoint mechanism, which allows architects to create targeted views that address specific stakeholder concerns and conform to the ISO/IEC 42010 standard.

• Understanding Views, Viewpoints, and Stakeholders: Learn the difference between a view (what is seen in the model) and a viewpoint (the position or concern from which it is seen). A viewpoint defines the purpose, content, and techniques used to construct a view that speaks directly to the needs of stakeholders, whether individuals, teams, or organisations.
• Creating Targeted Architecture Views: Discover how architects can define and apply viewpoints to generate meaningful representations of the architecture. These views selectively show elements and relationships from the ArchiMate® metamodel that are most relevant to the stakeholder’s concerns.
• Standards and Classification: The ArchiMate® viewpoint mechanism satisfies ISO/IEC 42010 and categorises viewpoints based on their purpose (designing, deciding, or informing) and content (detail, coherence, or overview). This ensures each view is both purposeful and appropriate to its audience, ranging from technical specialists to executive leadership.
• Practical Application in Modelling: By applying the viewpoint mechanism, participants will learn how to construct views that improve communication, clarify stakeholder expectations, and support decision-making throughout architecture initiatives.

You will be equipped to design and apply architecture views that communicate effectively with diverse stakeholders, ensuring their concerns are understood and addressed in the modelling process.

Language Customisation Mechanisms

Explores how the ArchiMate® language can be customised to support domain-specific modelling needs, offering additional flexibility and expressiveness beyond the standard metamodel.

• Purpose of Language Customisation: Learn how to adapt the ArchiMate® language for specific industries, tools, or organisational needs. Customisation supports enhanced communication, detailed analysis, and accurate representation of sector-specific architectures.
• Adding Attributes to Concepts and Relationships: Discover how to enrich standard ArchiMate® elements and relationships by assigning attributes, also referred to as properties in some modelling tools. These attributes add descriptive detail to models, enhancing their clarity and usefulness.
• Using Profiles: Understand how profiles can be used to apply structured attributes to elements. Explore pre-defined profiles and user-defined profiles, which can be dynamically applied without altering the core ArchiMate® specification.
• Creating Specialised Elements and Relationships: Learn how to define new types of elements or relationships through specialisation. Specialised elements inherit the characteristics of their base types, enabling users to represent unique concepts, such as industry-specific actors, services, or artefacts, while maintaining consistency with the standard language.
• Applications of Customisation: See practical examples of specialisation across all ArchiMate® layers, including Business, Application, Technology, Physical, Strategy, Motivation, and Implementation. Understand how to use these elements in contexts such as risk modelling or process refinement.

You will be equipped to customise the ArchiMate® language to better reflect their unique organisational context, while still adhering to its structured modelling principles.

ArchiSurance Case Study

Involves the ArchiSurance case study, which is a comprehensive, fictional scenario designed for practical application of the ArchiMate® modelling language in the context of the TOGAF® framework.

• Context and Purpose: ArchiSurance is a merged insurance company navigating both rationalisation and digital transformation. The case study presents real-world challenges such as infrastructure consolidation and a strategic shift toward digital customer intimacy using Big Data and IoT.
• Applying ArchiMate® Across TOGAF® Phases: The case study maps directly to the TOGAF® Architecture Development Method (ADM), progressing through all key phases:
  • Architecture Vision (Phase A): Identifies key stakeholders, drivers, goals, and guiding principles.
  • Business Architecture (Phase B): Includes organisation views, value streams, capability maps, business processes, and requirements.
  • Information Systems Architectures (Phase C): Covers application and data architecture baselines and targets, usage, behaviour, and information flow.
  • Technology Architecture (Phase D): Models current and future infrastructure, including IoT integration.
  • Opportunities and Solutions / Migration Planning (Phases E & F): Develops migration and project views that reflect a phased transformation.
• Modelling Techniques and Outputs: Participants analyse and produce views including gap analyses, capability and resource mappings, goal refinement, and solution concepts. Each modelling output supports structured thinking and clear communication of architectural change.

You will gain hands-on experience applying ArchiMate® in a realistic transformation scenario, reinforcing their ability to model, assess, and communicate architecture across business and technology domains.

ArchiMetal Case Study

Involves the ArchiMetal case study, which includes the practical use of the ArchiMate® language to model enterprise transformation within a manufacturing business.

• Strategic Context and Objectives: ArchiMetal is a European steel manufacturer undertaking a major transformation to support expansion into the automotive market. This includes a CRM implementation to improve customer service, order tracking, and production planning.
• Modelling Enterprise Transformation: Participants explore how ArchiMate® is used to represent the baseline and target states across business, application, and technology layers. The case study covers structural changes, new business processes, and the integration of CRM capabilities, providing insight into how architecture supports change initiatives.
• Integrated Planning and Migration: Models of work packages, deliverables, and implementation events show how transformation efforts are structured and sequenced. Participants also engage with stakeholder concerns and analyse how architectural elements shift across migration stages.

You will gain applied experience in using ArchiMate® to design, assess, and communicate enterprise change, strengthening their ability to manage complexity and deliver strategic outcomes. ArchiMate® certification exams and use the language in real-world architecture engagements.