ARIS Express Beta - my summary

Folks,

I have posted a few comments as I have gone along testing Express. I'd just like to share my overall impressions and invite your comments.

I am an independent IT Strategy and Architecture Consultant. My prior assignment was with a major European utility company where I recommended the use of ARIS for BPM and EA. I then spend 18 months helping them implement the package including design of their metamodel customisations, development of training materials, and population of the repository.

I was very keen to review Express as there is definitely a need for a simple tool for occasional modellers. Also, as a consultant, I would like to be able to use ARIS on assignments with smaller customers who think they can't afford the full version and to give them the models I create.

My overall impression so far is that Express is both a promising start and a big missed opportunity. In particular, I think any experienced modeller who sees Express is going to have a hard time believing that ARIS is in the Gartner Leaders quadrant for Enterprise Architecture tools.  I know the primary purpose was to get people involved in BPM modelling and that's a good thing. But don't forget that the wider the use of the tool the more impact it will have on people's impressions about ARIS in general.

At a more detailled level:

•  I think that the metamodel needs to be complete if Express is going to be used as a standalone tool. It would be better to leave objects out than to leave them "hanging" in the metamodel. "Database" is the worst example. And why include a physical layer of models for infrastructure if the logical layer is incomplete?
• The models look pretty but would be even better if you could add drawing objects for presentation purposes.
• The print options are let down by the inability to print file names and date/time info. If I give a model to a client I want them to know what it is and which version it is.

Obviously, there is a limit to what can be done in a file-based product and IDS must be careful not to undermine ARIS sales by providing a free alternative. But Express is, potentially, a great way to introduce more people to what ARIS can do so the probability is that people will use it, like it, and want to upgrade to the full product.

I'm disappointed that there won't be any changes to the beta product and it's unlikely that I will be able to make much use of Express in its current form. However, I hope that Express will prove to be popular and look forward to future versions.

Best regards,

Richard