A modelling language for enterprise architecture published by The Open Group. It describes the business, application and technology domains, their elements and their relationships, in a standard notation.

ArchiMate 4 vs 3.2: what changed, and how do I migrate existing models?

Version 4 replaces layers with domains, merges behaviour into a single set (service, process, function, event) and removes several elements, including constraint, contract and gap. Each removed element in a 3.2 model receives a replacement chosen by the team among the conversion options published by The Open Group, then the affected views are checked.

ArchiMate vs BPMN: when should I use each?

ArchiMate connects capabilities, processes, applications and technologies. BPMN describes how a process runs, step by step. They complement each other: the first places the process in the architecture, the second shows how it works.

Do I need to learn every element to get started?

No. Start with business services and processes, the applications supporting them and the technology underneath. The model grows with the questions you need to answer.

Documentation

ArchiMate Explained: Domains, Elements and Version 4

ArchiMate is the enterprise architecture notation published by The Open Group. Version 4, published on 27 April 2026, speaks of domains where version 3.2 spoke of layers.

Updated on October 29, 2026

A shared notation

ArchiMate is an open modelling language for enterprise architecture, published by The Open Group. It defines the elements and relationships that describe an organisation, its applications and its technologies. A diagram keeps the same meaning for every reader, whichever tool produced it.

Without a shared notation, the meaning of a box or an arrow depends on its author. A common notation lets a model pass from one team to another and from one tool to another.

Domains and relationships

An ArchiMate model connects several domains. The specification organises its elements into several domains, including a common domain, strategy and motivation; three of them structure most models.

The value of the model lies in the relationships between domains. A business process uses an application service; an application realises that service and runs on a technology. By following this chain, a team finds the infrastructure behind a customer-facing service.

Business domain: actors, roles, processes, services and products.
Application domain: applications and the services they expose.
Technology domain: infrastructure, platforms and networks.

Active structure, behaviour and passive structure

ArchiMate distinguishes three aspects. Active structure elements perform behaviour: an actor, a role, an application component. Behaviour elements describe what is done: a process, a function, a service, an event. Passive structure elements are what the behaviour acts on: a business object, a data object.

This distinction gives every model the same shape: who does what, on which object. Diagrams from two teams become comparable.

What changes with ArchiMate 4

The Open Group published the ArchiMate 4 Specification on 27 April 2026, as document C260. It supersedes version 3.2, document C226. The term layer is replaced by domain, and a Common Domain chapter replaces the generic metamodel.

The Open Group states that version 4 offers strong user-level compatibility with earlier versions. A 3.2 model that uses a removed element is reviewed element by element: the team chooses, among the conversion options published by The Open Group, the version 4 element or relationship that replaces it, then checks the views that displayed it.

Behaviour is no longer split by layer: a single set of service, process, function and event serves every domain.
Business, application and technology collaborations become a single collaboration element.
The business role becomes a generic role, assignable to any internal active structure element.
Interaction, constraint, contract, gap and representation are removed.
Relationships can carry multiplicity.

ArchiMate, BPMN and TOGAF

ArchiMate connects capabilities, processes, applications and technologies. BPMN describes how a process runs, step by step, with its roles and decisions. TOGAF is a method: it describes how to carry out architecture work. The Open Group presents ArchiMate 4 as closely aligned with the TOGAF Standard.

The three combine without depending on one another. A team can follow the ADM, describe the current state and target in ArchiMate and draw the changing processes in BPMN. It starts with the elements that answer its question, then extends the model.

ArchiMate in ArchiLU

ArchiLU organises its model by ArchiMate 4 domain. Contributions from business and IT teams connect in a graph structured around ArchiMate, and landscapes are displayed in that notation. The business landscape stops at the process; the BPMN drawing carries the applications used on each step.

A landscape exports in the ArchiMate Open Exchange format, in draw.io or in SVG. The full export contains the whole repository and can be re-imported into an empty database. ArchiMate is a registered trademark of The Open Group.

In ArchiLU

An enterprise architect's dashboard at the bank: “My work”, then the applications no one is accountable for.

Frequently asked questions

What is ArchiMate?: A modelling language for enterprise architecture published by The Open Group. It describes the business, application and technology domains, their elements and their relationships, in a standard notation.
ArchiMate 4 vs 3.2: what changed, and how do I migrate existing models?: Version 4 replaces layers with domains, merges behaviour into a single set (service, process, function, event) and removes several elements, including constraint, contract and gap. Each removed element in a 3.2 model receives a replacement chosen by the team among the conversion options published by The Open Group, then the affected views are checked.
ArchiMate vs BPMN: when should I use each?: ArchiMate connects capabilities, processes, applications and technologies. BPMN describes how a process runs, step by step. They complement each other: the first places the process in the architecture, the second shows how it works.
Do I need to learn every element to get started?: No. Start with business services and processes, the applications supporting them and the technology underneath. The model grows with the questions you need to answer.

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