ArchiMate defines 60+ elements across 6 layers and 3 aspects. The core elements are the most frequently used in practice. Filter by layer or aspect to browse them.
Strategy
Active Structure
Resource
An asset owned or controlled by the organisation that is used to perform activities or provide services.
e.g. IT budget, skilled team, data centre
Strategy
Active Structure
Capability
An ability the organisation, person, or system possesses — enabling a desired outcome.
e.g. Cloud migration capability, CRM capability
Strategy
Behaviour
Course of Action
An approach or plan for configuring capabilities and resources to achieve a goal.
e.g. Cloud-first strategy, digital transformation plan
Strategy
Passive Structure
Value Stream
A sequence of activities that create an overall result for a customer, stakeholder, or end user.
e.g. Order-to-cash, loan origination
Motivation
Active Structure
Stakeholder
An individual, team, or organisation that has interests in or concerns relative to the outcome of the architecture.
e.g. CIO, regulator, end user
Motivation
Behaviour
Driver
An external or internal condition that motivates the organisation to change.
e.g. Regulatory change, competitive pressure
Motivation
Behaviour
Goal
A high-level statement of intent, direction, or desired end state for the organisation.
e.g. Reduce IT costs by 20%, improve customer NPS
Motivation
Passive Structure
Requirement
A statement of need that must be met by the architecture.
e.g. System must support 10,000 concurrent users
Motivation
Passive Structure
Principle
A qualitative statement of intent that should be met by the architecture — normative guidance.
e.g. Cloud-first, data is a shared asset
Business
Active Structure
Business Actor
An organisational entity capable of performing behaviour — a person, team, or department.
e.g. Sales department, customer, supplier
Business
Active Structure
Business Role
The responsibility for performing specific behaviour assigned to a Business Actor.
e.g. Account manager, approver, reviewer
Business
Behaviour
Business Process
A sequence of business behaviours that achieves a specific result for the organisation or customer.
e.g. Order fulfilment, employee onboarding
Business
Behaviour
Business Function
A collection of business behaviour based on a specific set of criteria — typically organisational capabilities.
e.g. Finance function, HR function
Business
Behaviour
Business Service
A service that fulfils a business need for an internal or external customer.
e.g. Order placement service, payroll service
Business
Passive Structure
Business Object
A concept used within the business domain — a passive element that business behaviour acts on.
e.g. Invoice, contract, customer record
Business
Passive Structure
Product
A coherent collection of services and/or passive structure elements offered to external customers.
e.g. Banking product, insurance policy
Application
Active Structure
Application Component
An encapsulation of application functionality aligned to implementation structure — a deployable software unit.
e.g. CRM system, payment gateway, API service
Application
Active Structure
Application Interface
A point of access where application services are made available to users or other components.
e.g. REST API, user interface, messaging endpoint
Application
Behaviour
Application Service
A service that exposes automated behaviour to the environment — what an application does for its users.
e.g. Authentication service, search service
Application
Behaviour
Application Function
Automated behaviour that can be performed by an application component.
e.g. Calculate tax, generate report
Application
Passive Structure
Data Object
Data structured for automated processing — the passive information element in the application layer.
e.g. Customer record, transaction, message
Technology
Active Structure
Node
A computational or physical resource that hosts, manipulates, or interacts with other resources.
e.g. Server, cloud instance, virtual machine
Technology
Active Structure
Device
A physical IT resource on which system software and other software can run.
e.g. Physical server, laptop, network switch
Technology
Active Structure
System Software
Software that provides or contributes to the environment for storing, executing, and using software.
e.g. Operating system, database engine, middleware
Technology
Behaviour
Technology Service
A service that exposes technology functionality — what infrastructure does for applications.
e.g. Compute service, storage service, DNS
Technology
Passive Structure
Artefact
A piece of data used or produced in a software development process — a deployable or storable item.
e.g. Docker image, JAR file, database schema
Physical
Active Structure
Equipment
One or more physical machines, tools, or instruments that can create, use, store, move, or transform materials.
e.g. Datacentre UPS, cooling system, IoT sensor
Physical
Active Structure
Facility
A physical structure or environment — a building, data centre, or site.
e.g. Datacentre building, office site
Physical
Passive Structure
Material
Tangible physical matter or physical elements — used in physical processes.
e.g. Cables, hardware components