Repository · A metamodel-neutral enterprise repository
Build an Enterprise Repository Around the Way Your Organization Thinks
Strategies, capabilities, applications, technologies, risks, and other architectural concepts become useful when their meanings and relationships are explicit. Repository gives you a structured place to define those concepts, record the connections between them, validate the resulting model, and share the work with others.
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The metamodel decides what can connect
Relationship types name the element types they may join; anything else is refused with a reason.
- Applicationdeployed onHost✓ Allowed
- ObjectivequantifiesBusiness Goal✓ Allowed
- Business Goaldeployed onHost✕ Not permitted by the metamodel
Structure without surrendering your method
Spreadsheets can catalog things, and drawing tools can create attractive pictures. Neither is especially good at maintaining a consistent body of architectural knowledge.
At the other extreme, a large enterprise architecture suite may arrive with its own assumptions about what you should model and how your practice should work.
Repository occupies the space between them. It lets you establish the kinds of things your organization cares about, define the relationships that are permitted between them, and then manage real architectural information according to those rules.
From metamodel to working repository
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Choose the structure
Start with an available metamodel package or define a metamodel for your organization. A metamodel establishes the types of elements, properties, relationships, and rules the repository will use.
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Add the things you need to understand
Create elements using forms generated from the metamodel. The fields and available element types reflect the model you selected rather than a generic, fixed database structure.
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Record meaningful relationships
Connect elements using only the relationship types and endpoints allowed by the metamodel. The repository explains why an invalid relationship cannot be created.
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Validate and focus
Review validation findings, use viewpoints to concentrate on a particular architectural question, and inspect the immediate neighborhood around an element.
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Share or take the data with you
Give colleagues Full, Editor, or Viewer access as appropriate. Export the repository as JSON or export its elements and relationships as CSV.
A repository with explicit meaning
Metamodel-neutral
The repository is not hardwired to one enterprise architecture framework. Use an available package or create a structure that reflects the concepts and language of your organization.
Generated forms
Element and relationship forms are generated from the selected metamodel, helping users capture the right information consistently.
Controlled relationships
Relationship rules define which element types can be connected. Cardinality and endpoint restrictions help keep the repository internally consistent.
Validation findings
Review issues by severity and identify information that does not meet the rules of the selected metamodel.
Focused viewpoints
Filter the repository to the concepts and relationships relevant to a particular architectural question or audience.
Neighborhood exploration
Select an element to see its direct relationships in a read-only graph, with an accessible table presenting the same information.
History and lifecycle
Review an element’s history, archive information that is no longer current, and restore it when necessary.
Explicit sharing
Grant Full, Editor, or Viewer access rather than making the repository broadly visible by default.
JSON and CSV exchange
Export a complete repository as versioned JSON or export data by type as CSV. Imports are validated before changes are written.
Model the enterprise using concepts people recognize
An architectural repository becomes more useful when its language reflects the organization using it. Repository allows an authorized metamodel owner to define object types, inheritance, properties, enumerations, relationship types, permitted endpoints, cardinality, labels, help text, and presentation colors.
Draft metamodels can remain incomplete while they are being developed. Before publication, Repository checks the package and identifies issues that must be resolved. Published versions are immutable, preserving the exact structure to which an existing repository is bound.
Start with the Enterprise Business Motivation Model
The Enterprise Business Motivation Model, or EBMM, provides a connected vocabulary spanning strategy, goals, capabilities, initiatives, organizations, processes, information, applications, technology, and risk.
Its viewpoints help architects concentrate on a particular concern without losing the relationships to the larger enterprise model.
EBMM v5 by Nick Malik. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
A structured repository, not another drawing canvas
Repository is not a free-form diagramming application and it is not a complete ArchiMate or BPMN workbench. Its purpose is to maintain structured architectural knowledge according to an explicit metamodel.
The neighborhood graph helps users understand the direct context of an element. Elements and relationships are created and maintained through controlled forms rather than by drawing arbitrary shapes and lines.
Built for useful work—and still evolving
Repository is currently in beta. Core repository, validation, viewpoint, sharing, and export capabilities are available, while the product will continue to evolve based on practical use by enterprise and business architects.
Because the work can be exported as JSON and CSV, users can retain an independent copy of their repository data.
Frequently asked questions
What is a metamodel?
A metamodel defines the kinds of elements a repository can contain, the properties those elements have, and the relationships that are allowed between them. It provides the rules and vocabulary for the architecture information stored in the repository.
Do I have to use a predefined framework?
No. You can use an available metamodel package or define a metamodel that reflects your organization’s terminology and analytical needs.
Is Repository a diagramming tool?
No. Repository is a structured, metamodel-driven information repository. It includes a read-only neighborhood graph for exploring direct relationships, but it is not a free-form drawing canvas.
Can I import and export the data?
Yes. Repository supports a versioned JSON format for complete repository exchange and CSV files for elements and relationships. Imports are validated before anything is written.
Can I work with colleagues?
Yes. Repository supports explicit Full, Editor, and Viewer access.
Can I change the metamodel after creating a repository?
A repository is bound to an exact metamodel package and version.
Does Repository replace the other Useful EA tools?
No. Repository is a standalone tool for maintaining structured architectural knowledge. Existing Useful EA tools remain separate systems of record for their respective purposes.
Is EBMM available?
Yes. The Enterprise Business Motivation Model v5 is available as a first-party metamodel package. It provides connected concepts and focused viewpoints across major areas of enterprise architecture.
Give your architecture knowledge a coherent home
Build a repository around the concepts your organization uses, make the relationships explicit, and create a more dependable foundation for architectural analysis.
Open Repository →