Archimate Foundation - Part 4 - Chapter 8 -9-10

Question 1

What is the use of the Business Layer metamodel?

Answer 1

The Business Layer is typically used (often in conjunction with the strategy elements described in the previous chapter) to model the Business Architecture of an enterprise that includes a description of the structure and interaction between the business strategy, organization, functions, business processes, and information needs.

Question 2

What is the structure of the Business Layer metamodel?

Answer 2

As with all the architecture layers (Business, Application, and Technology), active structure, behavior, and passive structure elements are central. Active structure is a static structure of an organization in terms of entities – these are the subjects (business actors, roles) that perform behavior such as business functions/processes (which are the behavior aspect). Passive structure elements (business objects) are manipulated by behavior elements.

Question 3

What is a business collaboration?

Answer 3

An aggregate of two or more business internal active structure elements that work together to perform collective behavior. A collaboration is a (possibly temporary) collection of business roles or actors within an organization, which perform collaborative behavior (interactions). The name of a business collaboration should preferably be a noun. It is also common to leave a business collaboration unnamed.

Question 4

What is a business interface?

Answer 4

It is a point of access where a business service is made available to the environment.

A business interface exposes the functionality of a business service to other business roles or actors. It is often referred to as a channel (telephone, Internet, local office, etc.). The same business service may be exposed through different interfaces. The name of a business interface should preferably be a noun.

A business interface may be part of a business role or actor through a composition relationship, and a business interface may serve a business role. A business interface may be assigned to one or more business services, which means that these services are exposed by the interface

Question 5

What are the active structure elements of the business layer?

Answer 5

In the Business Layer, three types of internal active structure element are defined: business actor, business role, and business collaboration.

Question 6

What are the behaviour elements of the business layer?

Answer 6

In the Business Layer, three types of internal behavior element are defined: business process, business function, and business interaction.

Question 7

What are the passive structure elements of the business layer?

Answer 7

In the Business Layer, there are two main types of passive structure elements: business object and representation. Furthermore, a contract, used in the context of a product, is a specialization of a business object.

Question 8

What are the passive structure elements of the business layer?

Answer 8

In the Business Layer, there are two main types of passive structure elements: business object and representation. Furthermore, a contract, used in the context of a product, is a specialization of a business object.

Question 9

What are the composite elements of the business layer?

Answer 9

The Business Layer contains one composite element: product. This aggregates or composes services and passive structure elements across the layers of the ArchiMate core language

Question 10

In the Business Layer metamodel a business event can access which element? A. Business actor B. Business collaboration C. Business interface D. Business object

Answer 10

In the Business Layer metamodel a business event accesses passive structure elements, which include a business object.

Question 11

Which of the following describes an element that can temporarily group two or more business roles to perform some collective behavior? A. Business collaboration B. Business interaction C. Business interface D. Contract

Answer 11

Business collaboration. A collaboration of two or more business roles results in collective behavior, which may be more than simply the sum of the behavior of the separate roles. Business collaborations represent this collective effort. Business interactions are used to describe the internal behavior that takes place within a business collaboration

Question 12

What ArchiMate entity is capable of performing behavior?

A. Business actor B. Business role C. Location D. Business service

Answer 12

A. Business actor. It performs the behavior to which business roles are assigned.

Question 13

Complete the sentence: A main difference between a function and a process is that the behavior of the process is based on a ……….

A. service B. role C. sequence or flow D. location

Answer 13

C. Sequence or flow

Question 14

Which of the following best describes the behavior aspects of a business object?

A. It contains information that can be altered by its own behavior.

B. Its behavior is limited to managing the content of other business objects.

C. Its only represents behaviors recognized as important to the Business Architecture.

D. It has no behavior, and its contents can only be affected by other elements.

Answer 14

D. It has no behavior, and its contents can only be affected by other elements.

Question 15

Identify the type of Business Layer elements in the table below.

Answer 15

…..F…. Ticket purchase completed A. Business collaboration
…..E…. Insurance policy B. Business interface
…..D…. Sales team C. Business role
…..B…. Toll-free telephone number D. Business actor
…..A…. A sales team creating a proposal E. Passive element
…..C…. A hiring manager F. Business event

Question 16

Select the best Business Layer element that describes each of the following definitions:

………. Two or more roles working together A. Business function
………. Exposes functions through an interface B. Business process
………. Behavior based on chosen criteria C. Business interaction
………. Behavior based on ordered activities D. Business service

Answer 16

…..C…. Two or more roles working together A. Business function
…..D…. Exposes functions through an interface B. Business process
…..A…. Behavior based on chosen criteria C. Business interaction
…..B…. Behavior based on ordered activities D. Business service

Question 17

Match the following symbols to their definitions:

Answer 17

…..C…. A unit of collective behavior performed by two or more business roles
…..D…. A perceptible form of the information carried by a business object
…..B…. A specification of an agreement between a provider and a consumer
…..A…. An explicitly defined business behavior

Question 18

In your own words, explain what this model describes:

Answer 18

The “Request insurance” business event triggers the “Take out insurance” business process. A business object containing the “Customer information” is accessed when the business event occurs. The “Receive request” business process is the first sub-process within “Take out insurance” and triggers two parallel actions shown by a junction element. The first action is to trigger the “Process request” business process which then triggers the “Collect premium” business process. In parallel and external to the “Take out insurance” business process, a “Send portfolio” business event is triggered by the “Receive request” business process and accesses the “Customer information” business object; this triggers the “Send product portfolio to customer” process.

Question 19

In the Business Layer metamodel a business event can access which element?
A. Business actor
B. Business collaboration
C. Business interface
D. Business object

Answer 19

D.

In the Business Layer metamodel a business event accesses passive
structure elements, which include a business object.

Question 20

Which of the following describes an element that can temporarily group two or more
business roles to perform some collective behavior?
A. Business collaboration
B. Business interaction
C. Business interface
D. Contract

Answer 20

A.

Business collaboration. A collaboration of two or more business roles
results in collective behavior, which may be more than simply the sum of
the behavior of the separate roles. Business collaborations represent this
collective effort. Business interactions are used to describe the internal
behavior that takes place within a business collaboration.

Question 21

What ArchiMate entity is capable of performing behavior?
A. Business actor
B. Business role
C. Location
D. Business service

Answer 21

A

Business actor. It performs the behavior to which business roles are
assigned.

Question 22

Complete the sentence: A main difference between a function and a process is that the
behavior of the process is based on a ……….
A. service
B. role
C. sequence or flow
D. location

Answer 22

C

Sequence or flow

Question 23

Which of the following best describes the behavior aspects of a business object?
A. It contains information that can be altered by its own behavior.
B. Its behavior is limited to managing the content of other business objects.
C. Its only represents behaviors recognized as important to the Business Architecture.
D. It has no behavior, and its contents can only be affected by other elements.

Answer 23

D.

It has no behavior, and its contents can only be affected by other elements.

Question 24

In the application layer, what is the active structure, the behaviour and the passive structure?

Answer 24

Active structure is:

the application components, the interfaces to them, and collections of
components (an application collaboration); these are the subjects (applications) that perform
behavior.

Behaviour is application services (external behaviour) application functions/processes (internal behaviour), which are the behaviour aspect.

Passive structure elements (data objects) are manipulated by behaviour elements.

Question 25

What is the application component?

Answer 25

The main active structure element for the Application Layer is the application component. This concept is used to model any structural entity in the Application Layer.

It can describe (reusable) software components that can be part of one or more applications, and also complete software applications, sub-applications, or information systems.

Question 26

What is the application collaboration?

Answer 26

The application collaboration element is introduced here as the inter-relationships of components are important in an Application Architecture. It is defined as a collection of application components which perform application interactions.

Question 27

What is the application interface?

Answer 27

An application interface is the (logical) channel through which the services of a component can be accessed. The application interface concept can be used to model both application-to-application interfaces, which offer internal application services, and application-to-business interfaces (and/or user interfaces), which offer external application services.

Question 28

Describe the following Diagram

Answer 28

illustrates the application collaboration concept. Two application components are
shown collaborating in the application collaboration “Transaction administration”: an
“Accounting component” and a “Billing component”.

Question 29

What are the behaviour elements in the application layer, and describe each of them?

Answer 29

• An application service is an externally visible unit of functionality, provided by one or more components, exposed through well-defined interfaces, and meaningful to the environment. The functionality that an interactive computer program provides through a user interface is also modeled using an application service, exposed by an application-to-business interface
  representing the user interface. Internal application services are exposed through an application to application interface.
• An application function describes the internal behavior of a component needed to realize one or more application services. An application process models an ordering of application behavior, as a counterpart of a business process.
• An application interaction is the behavior of a collaboration of two or more application components. An application interaction is external behavior from the perspective of each of the participating components, but the behavior is internal to the collaboration as a whole.
• Application event - An application behavior element that denotes a
  state change. Application functions and other application behavior may be triggered or interrupted by an application event. Also, application behavior
  may raise events that trigger other application behavior
  *

Question 30

What is the passive structure in the application layer? and describe it.

Answer 30

The passive counterpart of the application component in the Application Layer is called a data object. A data object is a representation of a business object, as a counterpart of the representation element in the Business Layer.

Data structured for automated processing.
A data object should be a self-contained piece of information with a clear meaning to the business, not just to the application level. Typical examples of data objects are a customer record, a client database, or an insurance claim.
The name of a data object should preferably be a noun.

Question 31

Describe the diagram

Answer 31

the structure of the “Home & Away Policy Administration” application component is shown together with the associated data objects that it accesses. The example uses nesting to show the internal application components.
The “Risk Assessment” application component has an application interface to the “Customer data access” application component that accesses “Customer file data” (a data object). The “Risk Assessment” application component also has interfaces to two other application components,
“Claim data management” and “Policy data management” which access the “Damage claim data” and “Insurance policy data” data objects respectively.

Question 32

Identify the type of Application Layer elements in the list below:

………. Customer Service updates Sales Component A. Data object
………. Message Bus provides access to Customer Service B. Service
………. Customer Data Record realizes Policy Contract C. Function
………. Accounting realizes Display Receivables D. Component
………. Lead Qualifying exposes Sales Support E. Interface

Answer 32

A. Data object - Customer Data Record realizes Policy Contract

B. Service - Lead Qualifying exposes Sales Support

C. Function - Accounting realizes Display Receivables

D. Component - Customer Service updates Sales Component

E. Interface - Message Bus provides access to Customer Service

Question 33

Mark each Application Layer element as Active Structure, Behavior, or Passive Structure:

Active Structure | Behavior | Passive Structure Data object
Active Structure | Behavior | Passive Structure Application function
Active Structure | Behavior | Passive Structure Application service
Active Structure | Behavior | Passive Structure Application interaction
Active Structure | Behavior | Passive Structure Application interface

Answer 33

Passive Structure Data object
Behavior Application function
Behavior Application service
Behavior Application interaction
Active Structure Application interface

Question 34

Match the following symbols to their definitions:

……………..Two or more application functions working together to perform some collective behavior.

………. The behavior performed in an application collaboration.
………. It encapsulates its behavior and data, exposes services, and makes them available through interfaces.
………. The access point where an application service is exposed to a user or another application.

Answer 34

…..D…. Two or more application functions working together to perform some collective behavior.

…..C…. The behavior performed in an application collaboration.

…..A…. It encapsulates its behavior and data, exposes services, and makes them available through interfaces.

…..B…. The access point where an application service is exposed to a user or another application.

Question 35

In your own words explain what this model describes:

Answer 35

The model shows a “Transaction processing” (application-to-application) service realized by the “Accounting” application function, and accessible to other components (serves) through a “Transaction processing API” application interface. This service serves the “Billing” application function performed by the “Billing component”. The “Billing” application function offers (realizes) an application service “Bill creation”, which can be used to support business processes, and is accessible through a “Billing screen” as an application interface.

Question 36

In the Application Layer metamodel, what direct relationship is defined between an
application component and an application event?
A. Accesses
B. Aggregation
C. Assignment
D. Realization

Answer 36

C Assignment

Question 37

Which of the following is an Application Layer element that specializes a component by aggregating two or more co-operating application components to perform collective
behavior?
A. Application interface
B. Application collaboration
C. Application component
D. Application function

Answer 37

B Application collaboration. An application collaboration represents an
aggregate of two or more application components that work together to
perform collective application behavior.

Question 38

Complete the sentence: In the ArchiMate modeling language, the behavior of an application collaboration is represented by ……….
A. an application interface
B. an application service
C. an application component
D. an application interaction

Answer 38

D An application interaction. An application interaction represents a unit of
collective application behavior performed by (a collaboration of) two or
more application components.

Question 39

Which of the following Application Layer elements realizes a Business Layer business object?
A. Application service
B. Data object
C. Application component
D. Application interface

Answer 39

B. Data object

Question 40

Considering the diagram.

Which of the following best describes the diagram?
A. Two application functions are co-operating via an application service.
B. The “Transaction processing” component provides an interface between the
“Accounting” and “Billing” components.
C. The “Accounting” and “Billing” components are co-operating via an application
service that exchanges “Transaction data” via a data object.
D. A financial application is being shown consisting of two sub-components for
accounting and billing.

Answer 40

A. Two application functions are co-operating via an application service.

Question 41

What is the use of the technology layer?

Answer 41

The Technology Layer is typically used to model the Technology Architecture of the enterprise including the structure and interaction of the platform services, and logical and physical technology components.

Question 42

Describe the active structure of the technology layer

Answer 42

The main active structure element for the Technology Layer is the node. This element is used to model structural entities in this layer. A technology interface is the (logical) place where the technology services offered by a node can be accessed by other nodes or by application components from the Application Layer.

• Node
• Device
• System Software:
• Technology collaboration
• Technology interface
• Path
• Communication network

Question 43

What is a Device?

Answer 43

A physical IT resource upon which system software and artifacts may be stored or deployed for execution.
A device is a specialization of a node that represents a physical IT resource with processing capability. It is typically used to model hardware systems such as mainframes, PCs, or routers. Usually, they are part of a node
together with system software. Devices may be composite; i.e., consist of sub-devices. The name of a device should preferably be a noun referring to the type of hardware; e.g., “IBM System z mainframe”.

Question 44

What is a Node?

Answer 44

Node: A computational or physical resource that hosts, manipulates, or interacts with other computational or physical resources.
Nodes are active structure elements that perform technology behavior and execute, store, and process technology objects such as artifacts (or materials). Nodes can be interconnected by paths. The name of a node should preferably be a noun.

Question 45

What is a system software?

Answer 45

Software that provides or contributes to an environment for storing, executing, and using software or data deployed within it.
System software is a specialization of a node that is used to model the software environment in which artifacts run. This can be, for example,
an operating system, a JEE application server, a database system, or a workflow engine.

Question 46

What is technology collaboration?

Answer 46

An aggregate of two or more nodes that work
together to perform collective technology behavior.
A technology collaboration specifies which nodes co-operate to perform some task. The collaborative behavior, including, for example, the communication pattern of these nodes, is modeled by a technology interaction. A technology collaboration typically models a logical or temporary collaboration of nodes, and does not exist as a separate entity in the enterprise.
The name of a technology collaboration should preferably be a noun.

Question 47

What is Technology interface?

Answer 47

A point of access where technology services offered by a node can be accessed.
A technology interface specifies how the technology services of a node can be accessed by other nodes. A technology interface exposes a technology service to the environment. The same service may be exposed through different
interfaces. The name of a technology interface should preferably be a noun.

Question 48

What is a path?

Answer 48

A link between two or more nodes, through which these nodes can exchange data or material.
A path is used to model the logical communication (or distribution) relations
between nodes. It is realized by one or more communication networks (or distribution networks when modeling physical elements), which represent the physical communication (or distribution) links. The properties (e.g.,
bandwidth, latency) of a path are usually aggregated from these underlying networks.

Question 49

What is a communication network?

Answer 49

A set of structures that connects computer systems or other electronic devices for
transmission, routing, and reception of data or data-based communications such as voice and video.
A communication network represents the physical communication infrastructure.

Question 50

Describe the diagram

Answer 50

model of the infrastructure at a particular location, the “ArchiSurance
Office”. Two nodes exist, a “Mainframe” and a “UNIX Server Farm”, providing computational resources at the location. These are connected via a local area communication network that also has a connection to the Internet via a “Firewall” node.

Question 51

What are the behaviour elements of the technology layer?

Answer 51

Behavior elements in the Technology Layer are similar to the behavior elements in the other two layers. A distinction is made between the external behavior of nodes in terms of technology services, and the internal behavior of these nodes; i.e., technology functions that realize these services.

• Technology function
• Technology process
• Technology interaction
• Technology event
• Technology service

Question 52

What is Technology function?

Answer 52

A collection of technology behavior that can be performed by a node.
A technology function describes the internal behavior of a node; for the user of a node that performs a technology function, this function is invisible. If its behavior is exposed externally, this is done through one or more technology services.

A technology function abstracts from the way it is implemented. Only the necessary behavior is specified. A technology function may realize technology services. Technology services of other technology functions may serve technology functions. A technology function may access technology
objects. A node may be assigned to a technology function (which means that the node performs the technology function). The name of a technology function should preferably be a verb ending with “ing”.

Question 53

What is a Technology process?

Answer 53

A sequence of technology behaviors that achieves a specific outcome.
A technology process describes internal behavior of a node; for the user of that node, this process is invisible. If its behavior is exposed externally, this is done through one or more technology services. The name of a technology process should clearly identify a series of technology behaviors; e.g., “System boot sequence” or “Replicate database”.

A technology process abstracts from the way it is implemented. Only the necessary behavior is specified. It can use technology objects as input and use or transform these to produce other technology objects as output.
A technology process may realize technology services. Other technology services may serve (be used by) a technology process. A technology process may access technology objects. A node may be assigned to a technology process, which means that this node performs the process.

Question 54

What is a Technology interaction?

Answer 54

A unit of collective technology behavior performed by (a collaboration of) two or more nodes.
A technology interaction describes the collective behavior that is performed by the nodes that participate in a technology collaboration. This may, for example, include the communication pattern between these components. A technology interaction can also specify the externally visible behavior needed to realize a technology service.
The name of a technology interaction should clearly identify a series of technology behaviors; e.g., “Client profile creation” or “Update customer records”.

The details of the interaction between the nodes involved in a technology interaction can be expressed during the detailed design using, for example, a UML interaction diagram.
A technology collaboration may be assigned to a technology interaction. A technology interaction may realize a technology service. Technology services may serve a technology interaction. A technology interaction may access artifacts.

Question 55

What is a technology event?

Answer 55

A technology behavior element that denotes a state change.
Technology functions and other technology behavior may be triggered or interrupted by a technology event. Also, technology functions may raise events that trigger other infrastructure behavior. Unlike processes, functions, and interactions, an event is instantaneous: it does not have duration.
The name of a technology event should preferably be a verb in the perfect tense; e.g., “message received”.

Events may originate from the environment of the organization, but also internal events may occur generated by, for example, other devices within the organization.
A technology event may have a time attribute that denotes the moment or moments at which the event happens. For example, this can be used to model time schedules; e.g., to model an event that triggers a recurring infrastructure function such as making a daily backup.
A technology event may trigger or be triggered (raised) by a technology function, process, or interaction. A technology event may access a data object and may be composed of other technology events.

Question 56

What is a technology service?

Answer 56

An explicitly defined exposed technology behavior.
A technology service exposes the functionality of a node to its environment. This functionality is accessed through one or more technology interfaces. It may require, use, and produce artifacts.
The name of a technology service should preferably be a verb ending with “ing”; e.g., “messaging”. Also, a name explicitly containing the word “service” may be used.

A technology service should be meaningful from the point of view of the environment; it should provide a unit of behaviour that is, in itself, useful to its users, such as application components and nodes.
Typical technology services may, for example, include messaging, storage, naming, and directory services. It may access artifacts; e.g., a file containing a message.
A technology service may serve application components or nodes. A technology service is realized by a technology function or process. A technology service is exposed by a node by assigning technology interfaces to it. A technology service may access artifacts. A technology service may consist of sub-services.

Question 57

What are the elements of the passive structure of the technology layer?

Answer 57

A technology object models the passive structure elements that are used and processed by the infrastructure.
An artifact is a physical piece of information that is used or produced in a software development process, or by deployment and operation of a system.

Question 58

What is an artifact?

Answer 58

A piece of data that is used or produced in a software development process, or by deployment and operation of a system.
An artifact represents a tangible element in the IT world. Artifact is a specialization of technology object. It is typically used to model (software) products such as source files, executables, scripts, database tables, messages,
documents, specifications, and model files. An instance (copy) of an artifact can be deployed on a node. An artifact could be used to represent a physical data component that realizes a data object.
The name of an artifact should preferably be the name of the file it represents; e.g., “order.jar”.

An application component or system software may be realized by one or more artifacts. A data object may be realized by one or more artifacts. A node may be assigned to an artifact to modelthat the artifact is deployed on the node. Thus, the two typical ways to use the artifact element are as an execution component or as a data file. In fact, these could be defined as specializations of the artifact element.

Question 59

What is a technology object?

Answer 59

A Technology object represents a passive element that is used or produced by technology behavior.
Technology objects represent the “physical” objects manipulated by the infrastructure of an enterprise. Technology objects are abstract elements; i.e., they are not instantiated in models but serve as the generic type of the things manipulated by the Technology Layer. This may include both artifacts (e.g., files) and physical material.
Technology objects may be accessed by technology behavior (functions, processes, interactions,
events, and services). A technology object may have association, specialization, aggregation, or composition relationships with other technology objects. A technology object may realize a data object or business object. It may be realized by an artifact or material (from the physical elements). The name of a technology object should preferably be a noun.

Question 60

Identify the type of Technology Layer elements in the list below:

………. Blade server A. Node
………. Local area network B. Device
………. Enterprise resource planning C. System software
………. Application server D. Technology interface
………. System management interface E. Artifact
………. Authentication service F. Technology service
………. Audit log G. Network

Answer 60

…..B…. Blade server A. Node
…..G…. Local area network B. Device
…..C…. Enterprise resource planning C. System software
…..A…. Application server D. Technology interface
…..D…. System management interface E. Artifact
…..F…. Authentication service F. Technology service
…..E…. Audit log G. Network

Question 61

Mark each of the following Technology Layer elements as Active Structure, Behavior, or Passive Structure.

Active Structure | Behavior | Passive Structure Path
Active Structure | Behavior | Passive Structure Technology function
Active Structure | Behavior | Passive Structure Artifact
Active Structure | Behavior | Passive Structure Node
Active Structure | Behavior | Passive Structure System software

Answer 61

Active Structure Path
Behavior Technology function
Passive Structure Artifact
Active Structure Node
Active Structure System software

Question 62

Match the following symbols to their definitions:

………. It represents a collection of technology behavior that can be performed by a node.
………. A hardware device.

………. A specialization of a technology object that can be used to model source files, executables, scripts, and database tables.

………. A set of structures that connects computer systems for transmission, routing, and reception of data.

Answer 62

…..C…. It represents a collection of technology behavior that can be performed by a node.

…..D…. A hardware device.

A…. ..A specialization of a technology object that can be used to model source files, executables, scripts, and database tables.

…..B…. A set of structures that connects computer systems for transmission, routing, and reception of data.

Question 63

In your own words explain what this model describes:

Answer 63

The model shows the “Mainframe” node running two system software elements, “Message Queuing” and “DBMS”. The two system software elements each realize a technology service, the “Messaging service” and “Data access service”, which serve a number of application components.

Question 64

In the Technology Layer metamodel, device is defined as a specialization of what other technology element?
A. Communication network
B. Node
C. Technology function
D. Tchnology service

Answer 64

B Node. Device, system software, and technology collaboration are
specializations of a node.

Question 65

Consider the following diagram:

What is the element “message queuing”?
A. Technology interface
B. Network
C. Path
D. Technology service

Answer 65

C Path

Question 66

Which of the following are active structure elements that perform technology behavior such as executing, storing, and processing artifacts?
A. Networks
B. Nodes
C. Components
D. Servers

Answer 66

B Nodes

Question 67

Which of the following represents a point of access where technology services offered by a node can be accessed?
A. Technology interface
B. Path
C. Technology function
D. Network

Answer 67

A Technology interface

Question 68

Which of the following Technology Layer elements is a specialization of a node that is used to model the software environment in which artifacts run?
A. Technology function
B. System software
C. Technology interface
D. Node

Answer 68

B System software

Question 69

What best describes Product element?

A. Product is equivalent to Business service

b. product is composed of business services

C. Product aggregates Business, applications and technology services and contract

D. Product cannot contain Technology Service

E. Product is specialization of Business Object element

Answer 69

C. Product aggregates Business, applications and technology services and contract

Question 70

Business Interface

a. Business interface is part of the Business Role or Business actor.
b. Business interface is part of business service
c. Business interface is part of business process
d. Business interface is an internal structure

Answer 70

a. Business interface is part of business role or business sactor

Question 71

What is a product?

Answer 71

A product represents a coherent collection of services and/or passive structure elements, accompanied by a contract/set of agreements, which is offered as a whole to (internal or external) customers.

A product may aggregate or compose b_usiness services, application services, and technology services, business objects, data objects_, and technology objects, as well as a contract. Hence a product may aggregate or compose elements from other layers than the Business Layer.

This definition covers both intangible, services-based, or information products that are common in information-intensive organizations, and tangible, physical products.

the product element is used to specify a product type. The number of product types in an organization is typically relatively stable compared to, for example, the processes that realize or support the products. “Buying” is usually one of the services associated with a product, which results in a new instance of that product (belonging to a specific customer). Similarly, there may be services to modify or destroy a product.

Question 72

What is an application service?

Answer 72

An application service represents an explicitly defined exposed application behavior.

An application service is realized by one or more application functions that are performed by the component. It may require, use, and produce data objects.

An application service may serve business processes, business functions, business interactions, or application functions. An application function may realize an application service. An application interface may be assigned to an application service. An application service may access data objects. The name of an application service should preferably be a verb ending with “ing”; e.g., “transaction processing”. Also, a name explicitly containing the word “service” may be used.