Linked.Archi Financial Architecture Extension
type: Ontology
imports: core#
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
preferred namespace prefix: fina
creator: Kalin Maldzhanski
description: Extension ontology for financial aspects of enterprise architecture. Provides vocabulary for Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) models, cost allocation to business capabilities and value streams, investment case tracking (Run/Grow/Transform), cost-benefit analysis for architecture decision options, and FinOps cloud cost management. Not intended to replace financial planning tools — the goal is to make cost a queryable dimension of the architecture knowledge graph, enabling questions like "What is the annual run cost of all applications supporting this capability?" or "Which decision option has the best NPV?" Motivated by Gartner 2025 Leadership Vision identifying lack of financial acumen as one of the five mistakes EA teams make.
abstract: Ontology for financial aspects of enterprise architecture within the Linked.Archi ecosystem.
created: 2026-05-03
modified: 2026-05-03
publisher: Linked.Archi
publisher: linked.archi
status: draft
version IRI: 0.1.0#
version info: 0.1.0
citation: Linked.Archi Financial Architecture Extension

Cost Category
type: Class
definition: Classification of cost items by type — license, infrastructure, labor, support, integration, compliance, opportunity cost, or technical debt interest.

Investment Type
type: Class
definition: Classification of architecture investments by strategic intent — Run (keep operational), Grow (expand capabilities), or Transform (fundamental modernization).

Cost Period
type: Class
definition: The time period over which a cost applies — annual, monthly, quarterly, or one-time.

Cost Model
type: Class
definition: A Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) or cost model for an architecture element or group of elements. Aggregates cost items across categories (license, infrastructure, labor, support) over a defined time horizon. A CostModel can be linked to any arch:Element — an application, a capability, a platform, or a service. It can also be allocated to business capabilities and value streams for cost-per-capability analysis. The totalTCO property holds the calculated total; individual cost items provide the breakdown.

Cost Item
type: Class
definition: A single line item in a cost model — one specific cost with its category, amount, period, and optional notes. Cost items are the atomic units of financial tracking in the architecture knowledge graph.

Investment Case
type: Class
definition: A business case for an architecture investment — modernization, new capability development, or decommissioning. Links the investment to the architecture elements it affects, the projected ROI, payback period, and the Run/Grow/Transform classification. Investment cases connect financial planning to architecture decisions: when an architect proposes a modernization, the investment case captures the financial justification.

Cost-Benefit Analysis
type: Class
definition: A structured comparison of costs and benefits for an architecture decision option. Links to ad:Option from the architecture decisions extension, enabling cost-informed decision making. Captures estimated cost, estimated benefit, net present value (NPV), and supporting notes. Multiple options for the same decision can be compared by their CBA metrics.

Budget
type: Class
definition: An allocated budget for an architecture initiative, portfolio segment, or organizational unit. Tracks the approved amount, the fiscal period, and the budget owner.

Forecast
type: Class
definition: A projected cost or benefit over a future time horizon. Used for financial planning and investment tracking. Links to the architecture elements or initiatives being forecasted.

Cloud Cost Allocation
type: Class
subclass of: Cost Item
definition: A cloud-specific cost allocation aligned with FinOps practices. Captures cloud provider, service type (compute, storage, network, managed services), and usage-based vs reserved pricing.

Technical Debt Cost
type: Class
subclass of: Cost Item
definition: The estimated cost of maintaining or remediating technical debt. Captures both the "interest" (ongoing cost of workarounds and maintenance overhead) and the "principal" (one-time cost to remediate the debt).
scope note: Technical debt cost is often invisible in traditional financial reporting. Making it explicit in the architecture knowledge graph enables questions like "What is the total technical debt interest across our portfolio?" and "Which applications have the highest debt-to-value ratio?"

Migration Cost
type: Class
subclass of: Cost Item
definition: The estimated cost of migrating an application or platform. Designed to compose with the TIME framework — applications classified as Migrate should have a MigrationCost item in their cost model.

Total Cost of Ownership
type: Concern
definition: The full lifecycle cost of an architecture element — acquisition, operation, maintenance, support, and eventual decommissioning.

Investment Prioritization
type: Concern
definition: Allocating limited investment budget across competing architecture initiatives based on projected ROI, strategic alignment, and risk.

Technical Debt Visibility
type: Concern
definition: Making the financial impact of technical debt visible to business stakeholders — the ongoing cost of workarounds and the investment required to remediate.

Cloud Cost Optimization
type: Concern
definition: Optimizing cloud spending through right-sizing, reserved instances, spot usage, and architectural decisions that reduce cloud cost.

Cost Overview
type: Viewpoint
definition: High-level overview of architecture costs — total cost by capability, by application, by technology platform. The entry point for financial analysis of the architecture landscape.
viewpoint has purpose: Informing
viewpoint has purpose: Deciding
viewpoint frames concern: Total Cost of Ownership
includes concept: Cost Model
includes concept: Cost Item
view type: Matrix
view type: Catalog

Investment Portfolio
type: Viewpoint
definition: View of architecture investments — Run/Grow/Transform classification, projected ROI, payback periods, and budget allocation. Used for investment prioritization and portfolio balancing.
viewpoint has purpose: Deciding
viewpoint frames concern: Investment Prioritization
includes concept: Investment Case
includes concept: Budget
includes concept: Forecast
view type: Matrix
view type: Diagram

Technical Debt Landscape
type: Viewpoint
definition: View of technical debt across the portfolio — which applications carry the most debt, what is the annual interest cost, and what would remediation cost. Makes the invisible visible for business stakeholders.
viewpoint has purpose: Informing
viewpoint has purpose: Deciding
viewpoint frames concern: Technical Debt Visibility
includes concept: Technical Debt Cost
includes concept: Cost Model
view type: Matrix
view type: Catalog

Cloud FinOps
type: Viewpoint
definition: View of cloud cost allocation — spending by provider, service type, application, and team. Aligned with FinOps Foundation practices.
viewpoint has purpose: Governing
viewpoint frames concern: Cloud Cost Optimization
includes concept: Cloud Cost Allocation
includes concept: Cost Model
view type: Matrix
view type: Catalog

has cost model
type: ObjectProperty
definition: Links an architecture element to its cost model.
domain includes: Element
range includes: Cost Model

has cost item
type: ObjectProperty
definition: Links a cost model to its line items.
domain includes: Cost Model
range includes: Cost Item

cost category
type: ObjectProperty
definition: Categorizes a cost item (license, infrastructure, labor, etc.).
domain includes: Cost Item
range includes: Cost Category

annual amount
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: The annual cost amount in the cost model's base currency.
domain: Cost Item
range: decimal

one-time amount
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: A one-time cost amount (e.g., migration cost, setup fee).
domain: Cost Item
range: decimal

currency
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: ISO 4217 currency code for the cost model (e.g., EUR, USD, GBP).
domain: Cost Model
range: string

cost period type
type: ObjectProperty
definition: The time period over which a cost applies.
domain includes: Cost Item
range includes: Cost Period

total TCO
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: The calculated total cost of ownership over the defined horizon.
domain: Cost Model
range: decimal

TCO horizon (years)
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: The number of years over which TCO is calculated (typically 3 or 5).
domain: Cost Model
range: integer

cost model date
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: The date the cost model was created or last updated.
domain: Cost Model
range: date

cost model owner
type: ObjectProperty
definition: The stakeholder responsible for maintaining the cost model.
domain includes: Cost Model
range includes: Stakeholder

allocated to capability
type: ObjectProperty
definition: Allocates cost to a business capability for cost-per-capability analysis.
domain includes: Cost Model

allocated to value stream
type: ObjectProperty
definition: Allocates cost to a value stream for value-stream cost analysis.
domain includes: Cost Model

allocation percentage
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: Percentage of cost allocated to a capability or value stream (0-100).
range: decimal

has investment case
type: ObjectProperty
definition: Links an architecture element to its investment case.
domain includes: Element
range includes: Investment Case

investment type
type: ObjectProperty
definition: Classifies the investment as Run, Grow, or Transform.
domain includes: Investment Case
range includes: Investment Type

projected ROI
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: Projected return on investment as a percentage.
domain: Investment Case
range: decimal

payback period (months)
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: Expected number of months until the investment pays for itself.
domain: Investment Case
range: integer

investment amount
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: Total investment amount requested.
domain: Investment Case
range: decimal

investment currency
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: ISO 4217 currency code for the investment case.
domain: Investment Case
range: string

investment status
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: Status of the investment case (proposed, approved, in-progress, completed, cancelled).
domain: Investment Case
range: string

investment sponsor
type: ObjectProperty
definition: The stakeholder sponsoring the investment.
domain includes: Investment Case
range includes: Stakeholder

has cost-benefit analysis
type: ObjectProperty
definition: Links a decision option to its cost-benefit analysis.

estimated cost
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: Total estimated cost of the option.
domain: Cost-Benefit Analysis
range: decimal

estimated benefit
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: Total estimated benefit of the option.
domain: Cost-Benefit Analysis
range: decimal

net present value
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: Net present value of the option over the analysis horizon.
domain: Cost-Benefit Analysis
range: decimal

discount rate
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: Discount rate used for NPV calculation (as a decimal, e.g., 0.08 for 8%).
domain: Cost-Benefit Analysis
range: decimal

analysis horizon (years)
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: Number of years over which the cost-benefit analysis is projected.
domain: Cost-Benefit Analysis
range: integer

CBA currency
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: ISO 4217 currency code for the cost-benefit analysis.
domain: Cost-Benefit Analysis
range: string

has budget
type: ObjectProperty
definition: Links an initiative or portfolio segment to its allocated budget.

budget amount
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: The approved budget amount.
domain: Budget
range: decimal

budget currency
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: ISO 4217 currency code for the budget.
domain: Budget
range: string

fiscal year
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: The fiscal year the budget applies to.
domain: Budget
range: gYear

budget owner
type: ObjectProperty
definition: The stakeholder responsible for the budget.
domain includes: Budget
range includes: Stakeholder

cloud provider
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: The cloud provider (AWS, Azure, GCP, etc.).
domain: Cloud Cost Allocation
range: string

cloud service type
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: The type of cloud service (compute, storage, network, database, managed service).
domain: Cloud Cost Allocation
range: string

pricing model
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: The pricing model (on-demand, reserved, spot, savings plan).
domain: Cloud Cost Allocation
range: string

debt type
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: The type of technical debt (interest = ongoing cost, principal = remediation cost).
domain: Technical Debt Cost
range: string

debt description
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: Description of the technical debt and its impact.
domain: Technical Debt Cost
range: string