Library
Enterprise architecture diagrams
A library of 40 interactive diagrams — patterns, frameworks, data, security, governance — to explain enterprise architecture simply. Generic and educational, free to explore.
Strategy & business8
Architecture patterns9
Data5
Security & resilience4
Integration & cloud3
Governance & steering8
Frameworks & modelling3
Diagram #1
From chaos to structure
Scattered, siloed legacy systems reorganising into a layered enterprise architecture.
Diagram #4
Business capability map
The reference EA artifact: the enterprise’s capabilities, unfolded by levels (L1 → L2 → L3). Turn on a heatmap to visualise maturity or criticality — and spot where to invest.
Diagram #15
Target Operating Model
The model that links strategy to operations: customers, offering, processes, organisation, data, technology — with cross-cutting governance. Unfold the model, or click a layer to see its role.
Diagram #16
Wardley Map
A strategic map with two axes: vertically, the value chain (from the visible customer need at the top to the invisible foundations at the bottom); horizontally, maturity (from genesis to commodity). It helps decide what to build, buy or outsource. Click a component.
Diagram #27
Pace Layering
Not all applications change at the same pace: systems of record (slow), of differentiation (medium), of innovation (fast). To be governed differently. Click a layer.
Diagram #31
Business Model Canvas
Nine blocks to describe how an organisation creates, delivers and captures value. Click a block to read its role.
Diagram #32
Benefits map
Link each capability investment to a business outcome, then to a strategic objective. Click a node to see its end-to-end chain.
Diagram #33
Capability-based planning
Prioritise investments by the current → target maturity gap, weighted by business importance. Sort by priority, click a capability.
Diagram #11
Orchestration vs Choreography
The same business process, coordinated two ways. On the left a central orchestrator drives each service; on the right services react to events via a bus, with no conductor. Run the process to compare.
The orchestrator calls each service in turn. It knows and drives the entire sequence.
Each service reacts to an event and publishes a new one — no central conductor.
Diagram #12
Strangler Fig pattern
Modernise a monolith without a big bang: a façade proxy routes traffic, and each module is extracted one by one into a service, until the legacy is decommissioned. Migrate the modules step by step.
Diagram #18
Saga pattern
A transaction spanning several services, with no global lock: a sequence of local transactions. If a step fails, compensating transactions undo the previous ones, in reverse order.
Diagram #23
CQRS & Event sourcing
Separate writes from reads: commands produce events (the source of truth), projections feed optimised read models. Run the flow to see both sides.
Diagram #30
Context map (DDD)
Bounded contexts and their integration relationships (Shared Kernel, Customer/Supplier, Conformist, Anti-Corruption Layer, Open Host Service). Click a context.
The labels on the links are DDD integration patterns (Shared Kernel, Customer/Supplier, Conformist, Anti-Corruption Layer, Open Host Service).
Diagram #34
Service Mesh
Move network “plumbing” (mTLS, retries, routing, observability) out of the business code into sidecars driven by a control plane. Enable the mesh, click a concern.
Diagram #35
BFF & API Gateway
A Backend-For-Frontend per channel (web, mobile, partner), behind a gateway that pools security and routing. Click a channel to see its path.
Diagram #37
Circuit Breaker
A software breaker: Closed → Open → Half-open. Simulate successful/failed calls and the timeout to watch the state machine react.
State: Closed. Calls pass normally.
Diagram #38
Saga vs Two-Phase Commit
Two strategies for consistency across services: the Saga (local transactions + compensations) or 2PC (lock then atomic commit). Toggle and run.
Diagram #9
Data lineage
Trace data from source systems to its uses. Click a node to light up its full lineage — upstream and downstream. Essential for audit, compliance and impact analysis.
Diagram #20
Master Data Management
The same entity exists in several systems, with incomplete or conflicting values. MDM builds a “golden record” by choosing, field by field, the best source. Run the reconciliation.
Diagram #25
Data Mesh
Decentralise data: each business domain owns and publishes its own data products, via a self-service platform and federated governance. Click a domain.
Diagram #26
Medallion architecture
Refine data through layers: Bronze (raw) → Silver (cleaned) → Gold (business-ready). Each layer raises quality and business value. Click a layer.
Diagram #36
Lambda vs Kappa
Two ways to process data at scale: Lambda (batch + real time) or Kappa (all streaming, replaying the log). Toggle to compare.
Diagram #3
Impact analysis — Blast radius
A dependency graph. Click a component to simulate its failure: the wave propagates to every system that depends on it. Compare a foundational service (Auth) with a leaf system.
Diagram #8
Zero-trust access
“Never trust, always verify”: every request is re-checked at each boundary (identity, network, authorisation). Pick a scenario — a different control blocks each kind of threat.
Diagram #13
Defence in depth
Several concentric security layers around the data. Simulate a threat: it is stopped by the first layer able to detect it — and if a layer fails, the next ones still protect.
Layers (outer → core)
- PerimeterWAF · firewall
- NetworkSegmentation
- HostHardening · EDR
- ApplicationValidation · authorisation
- DataEncryption
Diagram #17
Resilience — RTO & RPO
When the primary site goes down, two metrics matter: RPO (data lost) and RTO (time to recover). Compare several replication strategies to see the cost / resilience trade-off.
Diagram #2
Enterprise integration architecture
A realistic map — API Management (Edge & Internal), iPaaS, Event Bus, MFT, Workflow/BPM. Click an integration case to see the right pattern and its path through the right components.
Diagram #10
Cloud migration — the 6 Rs
Each application gets a migration strategy: Retire, Retain, Rehost, Replatform, Repurchase, Refactor. Run the assessment to spread the portfolio, from minimal effort to a cloud-native rebuild.
12 applications to assess. Run the assessment to sort them across the 6 migration strategies (the 6 R’s), from minimal effort to a full rebuild.
Diagram #24
Cloud landing zone
A cloud foundation in hub & spoke: a hub pools cross-cutting services, each workload lives in its isolated spoke. Click a spoke to see how it connects to the hub.
Diagram #5
Transformation roadmap by waves
The transformation told as successive waves (strangler pattern): each wave delivers value without a big bang. Unfold the programme to watch the architecture mature toward the target.
Diagram #6
Application portfolio — TIME quadrant
IT rationalisation: each application is positioned by business value and technical quality. Run the assessment to see applications sort into four strategies — Invest, Migrate, Tolerate, Eliminate.
Diagram #21
Value Stream Mapping
A process broken into steps, each with its real work time and wait time. Spot the bottleneck and measure flow efficiency — then optimise the wait, not the work.
On most chains, wait time vastly dominates real work. Spot the bottleneck (the longest wait) — that is where to act first.
Diagram #22
RACI matrix
Clarify governance: for each activity, who is Responsible (R), Accountable (A), Consulted (C) or Informed (I). Click an activity or a role to highlight it.
| R | A | C | C | I | |
| R | A | I | C | I | |
| A | I | R | I | C | |
| A | I | R | C | C | |
| A | I | C | I | R |
Diagram #28
Tech Radar
Four rings — Adopt, Trial, Assess, Hold — place the confidence level of a technique or tool. Click a blip to read the recommendation.
Diagram #29
Risk matrix
Probability × impact: the crossing gives a severity zone and guides the response (reduce, transfer, monitor, accept). Click a risk.
| High | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium | |||
| Low | |||
| Rare | Possible | Likely |
Diagram #39
Dependency matrix (DSM)
Visualise coupling between modules: marks below the diagonal reveal feedback loops. Click a module to see its dependencies.
| i \ j | M1 | M2 | M3 | M4 | M5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| × | |||||
| × | |||||
| × | |||||
| × | × | ||||
| × |
Diagram #40
Cynefin
Place a problem (clear, complicated, complex, chaotic) to choose the right way to decide. Click a domain.
Diagram #7
TOGAF ADM cycle
The reference method to develop an enterprise architecture: eight phases (A→H) around requirements management. Unfold the cycle or click a phase to see its objective.
Management
Diagram #14
C4 model — zoom levels
Describe an architecture at several levels of detail, like zooming on a map: Context → Containers → Components → Code. Pick a level, or click a box to zoom inside.
Diagram #19
ArchiMate layers
The enterprise-architecture modelling language in three layers: Business, Application, Technology — linked by “served by” relationships. Click an element to see its direct relationships.