KV
My company recently purchased ARIS as part of some SAP business process improvements we're undertaking. We are also in the process of finalizing the creation of a formal Enterprise Architecture program, and the more I learn the ARIS tool, the more it seems like a perfect fit for our needs.
I have created a number of different models to explore how the various models relate to one another, but am wondering if there are some addtional reference materials out there that describe the various model/objects types and their intended use. I've read through the various manuals that came with the software (methods manual/IT Architect) but they seem to cover only certain model types and talk about them at a relatively high level.
I'm particularly interested in learning more about the Application/Data/Technology architecture models. Some types of questions that pop up are around object types (i.e. application class versus application type, data cluster definition), model relationships (best ways to get from application context diagrams to network diagrams) and what models are best for the various levels (i.e. conceptual, logical, physical). Some of this, I realize, is a matter of choice and governance, but it's hard to choose when it there are some many model types and objects to choose from.
This site keeps coming up in all my googling as the ARIS reference of choice. Any suggestions, pointers or direction would be much appreciated.
Kevin
Here are some resoruces for this if you want to tackle it on your own. The Methods Manual and IT Architecture guide you have already found provide some information. The Aris demo database which comes with the software provides lots of examples of different models. Also, the Method Help on the Help menu provides a description of all of the available Aris models and Objects and what they are allowed to do.
Unfortunately, there is not a lot of documentation out there as to the best way to use the method. You can save yourself a lot of time and ulitmately cost if you look into getting some help from someone with deep knowledge of the meta model to help you get started on the right path. I know that Confiance, Visual EA and of course Software AG all provide this service. I'm sure there are others as well.
One piece of guidance I can offer is that for the IT centric objects ARIS generally has a 3 level modeling standard that goes Class -> Type -> Instance. So for example, Application System Class -> Application System Type -> Application System. In a real world example this would be:
Office Support software (ASC)
MicroSoft Office (AST)
MicroSoft Office with Serial #123 (AS)
Also, it is generally true that models only support 2 levels of modeling in the same model type. On one model type you can relate ASC to AST but you cannot include AS objects on that model type. On a different model type you can model AST to AS connections.
