A Multilevel Model of IT Platforms for the Needs of Enterprise IT Landscape Analyses

Abstract

Conceptual modeling supports analyses of IT artifacts and the enterprise action system they are embedded in. However, in this paper it is argued that for IT landscape analyses existing modeling approaches fall short due to, among others, (a) problems with accounting for specifics of the IT domain, e.g., an elaborate technical terminology with various hierarchy levels, and (b) inadequate support for automated analyses within and across those different levels. In this paper, the authors discuss how a designed multilevel model of IT platforms created using the multilevel modeling language FMMLx can help overcome these problems. To this end, limitations of IT platform models created with conventional, two-level modeling languages are shown. Furthermore, benefits resulting from the application of the selected multilevel modeling language are discussed.