system

ArchiMate 3.2 Equivalent: Application Component (Macro / Composite System)

Represents a major enterprise software system or composite platform. A system can contain inline app, component, and agent entities.

Visual Styling

To apply custom shapes, badges, icons, or CSS to systems, use a Style Rule (e.g. style system where tier == "Tier-1" { shape "rounded-rectangle" icon "server" }).

---

Syntax

system <id> "<Display Name>" {
    # Properties
    description "<text>"
    owner "<team>"
    tags ["tag1", "tag2"]
    time "Tolerate" | "Invest" | "Migrate" | "Eliminate"
    cost <amount> <unit>
    risk "High" | "Medium" | "Low"
    criticality "Mission-Critical" | "Business-Critical" | "Operational" | "Administrative" | "Standard"
    sla "<target>"
    version "<version_string>"
    status "<status_string>"
    tier "Tier-1" | "Tier-2" | "Tier-3"
    deployment_model "Cloud" | "On-Premises" | "Hybrid"
    internet_facing true | false

    # Special Blocks
    lifecycle { phase ... }
    score { business_value ... tech_fit ... }
    security { confidentiality ... integrity ... availability ... }

    # Inline Child Entities (establishes composed_of)
    app <app_id> "<App Name>" { ... }
    component <comp_id> "<Component Name>" { ... }
    agent <agent_id> "<Agent Name>" { ... }

    # Relationships
    relationships { ... }
}

---

Properties

Property	Type	Allowed Values	Description
description	string	Free text	Explanation of system responsibilities
owner	string	Free text	System custodian or engineering tribe
tags	string[]	Array of strings	Categorization tags
time	enum	"Tolerate", "Invest", "Migrate", "Eliminate"	TIME classification
cost	cost	cost 50000 month or block form	Operating spend
risk	enum	"High", "Medium", "Low"	System risk classification
criticality	enum	"Mission-Critical", "Business-Critical", "Operational", "Administrative", "Standard"	Impact tier
sla	string	e.g. "99.99%"	Uptime SLA
version	string	e.g. "3.4.1"	Release version
status	string	e.g. "Active", "Deprecated", "In Development"	Operational status
tier	string	e.g. "Tier-1", "Tier-2"	Enterprise architectural tier
deployment_model	string	e.g. "Cloud", "Hybrid", "SaaS"	Hosting paradigm
internet_facing	boolean	true | false	Public internet exposure

---

Special Blocks

security (CIA Triad)

security {
    confidentiality High    # Low | Medium | High | Critical
    integrity High
    availability Critical
}

---

Allowed Relationship Verbs & Targets

Verb	ArchiMate Relation	Allowed Target Entity Types
composed_of	Composition	app, component, agent
realizes	Realization	capability, goal
serves	Serving	actor, process, system, app, agent
reads, writes	Access	data_object
flows_to	Flow	system, app, component, process, data_object, agent
triggers	Triggering	process, system, app, component, agent
influences	Influence	goal, kpi
migrates_to	Transformation	system, app, component, infrastructure, environment, agent
depends_on	Dependency	system, app, component, infrastructure, environment, agent
governed_by	Governance	policy, standard
protects	Protection	system, app, component, infrastructure, data_object, process, agent, trust_boundary

---

Complete Example

system sys_core_banking "Core Banking Platform" {
    description "Central ledger, account management, and balance calculation engine"
    version "4.2.0"
    status "Active"
    tier "Tier-1"
    deployment_model "Cloud"
    internet_facing false
    risk "Low"
    criticality "Mission-Critical"

    lifecycle {
        phase Run start "2020-01-01"
    }

    score {
        business_value 10
        tech_fit 8
    }

    security {
        confidentiality Critical
        integrity Critical
        availability Critical
    }

    app app_ledger_api "Ledger REST API" {
        technology "ASP.NET Core"
        api_type "REST"
    }

    agent ai_auditor "Automated Ledger Auditor" {
        model "gemini-2.5-flash"
    }

    relationships {
        this realizes cap_account_management
        this depends_on sys_identity_provider "Authenticates ledger operators"
        this governed_by pol_sox_compliance "Subject to SOX compliance"
    }
}