Visual Architecture

Define, capture, analyze and communicate your architecture by using a modeling tool tailored to your own architecture framework

Is Your Architecture Invisible?

An enterprise may have hundreds of interconnected systems built-up from thousands of software components dependent on each other, providing a countless number of services.

The architecture documentation is often spread around versatile artifacts such as spreadsheets, slides, documents and even informal sketches on whiteboards.

It is almost impossible for anyone to get the big picture, leading to sub-optimal decisions in system operation & maintenance and complicates further development.

We Make Your Architecture Visible!

With a fraction of the cost in comparison to other architecture modeling tools, we provide a ready-to-use architecture modeling tool solution build upon proven open-source technology, completely tailored to your architecture framework. The tool provides efficient visual modeling, advanced model analysis and powerful web publishing capabilities, for all your architects to use, based upon open-source technology.

Besides supporting your own architectural framework, several industrial modeling standards can be utilized:

Overall enterprise architecture modeling using ArchiMate^®
Business motivation modeling using BMM^®
Business process modeling using BPMN^®
System modeling using SysML^®
Software modeling using UML^®

Our solution will ensure a homogeneous architecture documentation which will significantly simplify understanding and communication of the architecture. Misunderstandings will easily be avoided. Architectural decisions will be more accurate than ever before.

Capturing, analyzing and communicating your architecture have never been easier. Within a few days of configuration and a short introduction you will perceive substantial business value independent of the size of your organization.

Contact us for more information or a live demonstration of the solution and the capabilities, based on real customer success stories.

Technical details
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The Process

The Visual Architecture solution is based upon the following underlaying tools:

	Eclipse is an open-source integrated development environment (IDE) which is well spread and an industrial standard for Java-development. Eclipse´s plugin-technology will ensure extra-ordinary extension capabilities.
	Papyrus is an Eclipse-based general open-source modeling tool environment. Architecture models will be stored in standard XML-based XMI-formats making them portable to other modeling tools.
	MetaModelAgent is an extension to Papyrus developed by Adocus that makes it easy to define and practice domain-specific modeling. MetaModelAgent will ensure consistency and correctness in your architecture models and makes it very simple to publish your models for anyone to read.
	Git is a file-based distributed open-source version management system. EGit is an Eclipse-specific user interface to git that will ensure collaboration capabilities and historical trace of your architecture models.

On top of these tools. Adocus has added automatic model visualization facilities with automatic layout and additional model analysis capabilities.

Runs on any platform

Thanks to the Eclipse platform, the Visual Architecture solution runs on Windows, Linux as well as MacOS clients.

Visual Architecture - Product Sheet

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What is Visual Architecture?

Visual Architecture is the name of a solution from Adocus for enabling a cheap customer-adapted architecture modeling, model analysis and web-publishing tool environment together with initial customization services.

What is needed to adopt Visual Architecture?

You need to have an existing Architecture Framework or at least a plan to utilize an Architecture Framework. By the term "Architecture Framework" we mean at least a consistent set of architectural concepts, attributes and relationships between the concepts.

What if we don’t utilize any well-defined Architecture Framework?

Adocus offers a set of additional consultancy services to support customers in selecting, defining and introducing an architecture framework within an organization.

Can standardized Architecture Frameworks be used?

Standardized frameworks such as ArchiMate from Open Group as well as BPMN for business process modeling are already available. Support for other standardized frameworks can be provided upon request.

Does the solution put any restrictions on the Architecture Framework used

The only restriction is that it need to be well-defined in terms of concepts, vocabulary, attributes and relationships. Any vague concept or unelaborated details needs to be clarified prior at the time for configuration.

What competence is needed to manage the solution?

If you would like to manage the configuration yourself after the initial configuration, knowledge and experience in UML and UML-extension mechanisms as well as in the metamodel notation used by MetaModelAgent are needed. All information needed to manage the configuration is included. Adocus also offers training and professional services to support you in maintaing the configuration.

What are the capabilities for advanced customization?

The solution is completely built upon a standard Eclipse platform using its extensive plugin-technology. That means that almost any kind of extension can be added. If you have prior knowledge of the Eclipse Environment and Java within your organization, you are already ongoing.

What is the final price tag for the solution?

Most components in the solution are open source and therefore free to use. License cost applies for the MetaModelAgent extension. No additional license cost applies for those who only need access to published models. Any additional development of customer-specific extensions as well as for consultancy services and training will be charged separately or as a packaged price.

What if we would like to migrate to some other architecture tool in the future?

All information captured using the Visual Architecture solution will be stored in standardized XML-based XMI-files which easily can be imported into someother tool. There is also a complete open-source API available that can be used for extracting all captured information. You are never locked-in.

Step 1: Define your Architecture Framework

We will support you in formally defining your own existing architecture framework and add your own graphical representation using a powerful UML-based metamodel notation. The metamodel notation forces you to be precise in your definition and avoid ambiguity and incosistency.

The final metamodel will be used to customize the user interface and behavior of the modeling tool and guarantee compliant architecture models.

Step 2: Capture your Architecture

All your architects will have a tailored modeling tool governed by the metamodel representation of your framework.

User interface wizards and views adapated to your framework together with live validation and optional background monitoring ensure efficient modeling. Architecture modeling will be more efficient and accurate than ever before.

Step 3: Analyze your Architecture

Your architecture will be visualized in terms of different kind of automatic diagrams, tables, matrixes, forms, trees and charts. This makes it easy to get an overview of different dimensions and aspects of your architecture.

Any kind of custom functions can easily be added to calculate and display aggregations and deductions related to your framework.

Step 4: Communicate your Architecture

Your architecture can be published to a comprehensive web site integrated with your architecture framework definition for anyone to use,

The website will include graphical as well as textual representation of your architecture and comes with easy to use search facilities.

The final web site could be made available for anyone without any additional license cost to use it. This makes our solution very cost-efficient in comparison with other alternatives.