EDGY:ArchiMate

EDGY and ArchiMate

Credits: Milan Guenther, Marc Lankhorst, Jean-Baptiste Sarrodie

This mapping links EDGY Enterprise Elements to corresponding ArchiMate™ elements. More specifically, EDGY elements can be represented as specialisations of corresponding ArchiMate elements. For more information on this mechanism, see the Specialization of Concepts chapter in the official documentation.

Using this mapping

This mapping has been designed based on the idea that EDGY specifically, and Enterprise Design in general, will be used to frame the strategic context of an initiative. Therefore this proposed mapping to ArchiMate™ purposefully focuses on Motivation elements and the Strategy layer, while Core elements can then be used to work on other layers not directly covered by EDGY. There are other mappings possible than the solution proposed in this document.

Any ArchiMate™ 3.2 capable tool or environment can be used to model enterprises with EDGY elements, with two main use cases in mind:

1. Using ArchiMate™ to create an enterprise model with EDGY only: to take advantage of a semantic modelling tool rather than a purely graphical diagram editor or similar, ArchiMate™ elements and relations provide an invisible backbone underlying the model. Every EDGY element or relation will correspond to an ArchiMate™ element or relation, but the depiction of each map (view) follows only the EDGY specification.
2. Using EDGY in combination with ArchiMate™: in this scenario both languages are used together as part of the same model. EDGY is used to create maps representing Identity and Experience facets. A high level Architecture can then be detailed and guided into implementation using more specific ArchiMate™ viewpoints, taking advantage of the more rich and rigorous language features.

Base Elements

EDGY Element	ArchiMate™ Element	Observations
people	Stakeholder	EDGY is people-centric: people refers to any person or group, including legal entities. In ArchiMate™, people correspond to stakeholders that represent their interest in the effect of the architecture.
outcome	Outcome	Both languages use an outcome element to model an end result.
activity	Value Stream	EDGY uses object as a universal base element for any structure or thing relevant to the enterprise. The closest ArchiMate™ equivalent is a resource owned or controlled by an individual or an organisation.
object	Resource	In EDGY Activities are used to model anything going on. The closest universal ArchiMate™ concept is a value stream.

Facet and Intersection Elements

EDGY Element	ArchiMate™ Element	Observations
purpose	Goal	An enterprise purpose is a kind of goal the enterprise pursues, hence maps to the goal element in ArchiMate™.

More tool features

ArchiMate™ is a registered trademark of The Open Group