Technology Components are used to represent types, or classes, of technology that exist in the enterprise and in the technology marketplace in general. This short tutorial introduces Technology Components and describes how they are captured in Essential Architecture Manager.

Purpose 

Technology Components exist in the Logical View of the Technology Layer of the Essential Meta Model. They are used to define classes or types of technology that one could procure today (or in the near future) via a Technology Provider either by buying a product (Technology Product) or building (Technology Product Build). Examples include:

• Relational Database Management System (RDBMS)
• Java Application Server
• Desktop Operating System
• Enterprise Service Bus (ESB)

Technology Components realise Technology Capabilities (from the Conceptual View) and it is entirely possible for them to realise more than one.

To capture in more detail how a component works, we can define the set of functions that it offers, e.g. an RDBMS might provide functions:

• create 
• read
• update
• delete

Functions are used in dynamic technology models to understand what happens when a function is invoked. 

Tasks 

To define a new Technology Component, create a new instance of the Technology Component class, as follows: 

• Give the component a name and description 
• Define the set of Technology Capabilities that the component realises 
• If appropriate, define the set of functions offered