Solutions are packages provided by Ardoq that combine EA domain expertise, techniques, and best practices with preconfigured solution assets—such as broadcasts, surveys, viewpoints, presentations, reports, and dashboards. These packages help customers realize value more quickly by eliminating the guesswork from the metamodel and asset configuration needed to achieve their desired outcomes. In this article, we will focus on the solution module, explain what happens when you load a solution into your organization, and answer some common questions about how it works.

The solutions loaded in from the solution module in Ardoq are comprised of several different elements: the metamodel, workspaces, and preconfigured solution assets (broadcasts, surveys, viewpoints, presentations reports, and dashboards). To learn more about Solutions, read the Getting started with Solutions article.

When a solution is loaded into an organization, a few things happen. Let’s take a look at what is getting loaded into the organization.

The solution metamodel consists of a subset of component types, reference types, and field types that are part of the larger Ardoq Metamodel. This metamodel is explicitly designed for simplicity and interoperability with all the other solutions. These components, references, and fields are the core to answering the questions and achieving the solution's outcome.

When a solution is loaded, the components, references, and field types* from the metamodel are created in their respective workspaces. There is a deep connection between workspaces and the metamodel, as the workspace is where you define and govern the model. Read more about workspaces here.

When loading a solution into an organization, the relevant workspaces and metamodel elements are created. However, these workspaces are empty and contain no data**. The purpose is so that users can leverage these preconfigured spaces to load their data using the integrations or Excel importer, which will begin to populate the preconfigured assets automatically.

In the example above, the Application and Person component type, the Owns reference type and Email field are part of the solution, when the solution is loaded, the Application workspace is created and then the application component type is created. The People workspace is created, and then the Person component type is created. Then the Owns reference type will be created, the Email field will be created, and applied to the person component in the People workspace.

Once the workspaces and metamodel have been loaded, then the solutions assets are loaded into the organization. These are pre-configured assets such as presentations, reports, dashboards, viewpoints, surveys, broadcasts, and integration configurations. Tailored to answer the questions of the solution. All of these assets are associated with the metamodel, so any changes made to the metamodel will impact their viability, and any changes to assets will potentially impact the usability of future releases of the solution.

Similar to the metamodel and workspaces, when assets are created in the organization they are given a unique Ardoq asset ID. This allows for assets to be moved around without impacting future releases of the solution.

When leveraging Ardoq Solutions it is important to decide early on whether to use the solution out of the box or to modify them to meet the needs of the organization. By leveraging the standard out of the box solutions, all future versions and updates made to the solution by Ardoq will easily be applied to the solution. However, extensive customization or changes to the metamodels or assets can lead to tremendous amounts of complexity and intraoperability. Any modifications to assets and or metamodel potentially limit future improvements from the solutions and may require extensive refactoring to realign to the Ardoq Metamodel. We strongly caution against uninformed or hasty changes to the metamodel for this reason. Please consult with Professional Services or Team Amplify before modifying the metamodel.

Solutions loaded into the application go hand in hand with the solution guide. Solutions guides are the techniques used to answer key questions.

Once a solution is loaded into an organization, it is important to leverage the Solution Guide (found in the solution module) to provide step-by-step guidance on how to get the relevant data into Ardoq and how/when to leverage the preconfigured solution assets.

Q: Certain aspects of the metamodel or certain pre-configured assets aren’t relevant for my outcome, is it okay to change or remove them?

A: Yes, but proceed with caution. The metamodel and assets are developed by our senior in-house Enterprise Architects as well as product experts who understand the nuances of EA and Ardoq. They are developed to provide a best-practice approach to reaching an outcome using Ardoq. However, we understand that every organization is different. Ardoq’s flexibility allows admins to adapt or extend assets and models to fit the needs of the organization. However, we strongly caution against uninformed or hasty changes to the metamodel. This can lead to tremendous amounts of complexity and intraoperability. Any modifications to assets and or metamodel potentially limit future improvements from the solutions. Please consult with Professional Services or Team Amplify before modifying the metamodel.

Q: Is it okay to rename or move workspaces created from a solution?

A: Yes, When a solution is loaded, it creates the respective workspaces and generates a unique workspace ID. Even if you move the workspace out of the solutions folders or rename the workspace the ID will remain the same.

Q: If I load a subsequent Solution that further enhances that workspace (for example, first load ALM and then load ITCM), will the fields be added to the workspace? Will the existing data be okay?

A: Yes, When Solution 1 is loaded into an organization, Component Type A is created in its respective workspace, and the subset of fields associated with Component Type A are created. You then begin to populate data into that workspace that came with Solution 1. You then decide that you want to load another solution (Solution 2), the subset of fields associated with Component Type A in Solution 2 would be loaded into the component workspace. It will not change any existing data that has been populated, you will only see the addition of new fields to Component Type A

Q: I loaded a new version of a solution that updates some of the fields in the solution; why am I not seeing those field changes after loading the updated solution?

A: Existing fields will not be automatically updated in subsequent updates of a solution. Solutions contain specific fields, these fields are identified by a field ID. When an updated solution is loaded into an organization, there is a field ID check that takes place. If the field ID is missing from the organization then the field is created in its current state. However, if that field ID does exist, the field will be skipped to prevent data loss. Any updates to field options or to gremlin must be done manually in the app, or the field(s) must be removed before the updated solution is reloaded.

Q: I loaded Solution A v1.0, and now there is an update to Solution A v2.0. In the update, a field from v1 is removed and replaced with a new field. What happens to my data and the assets?

A: Your data will remain unchanged, but the assets will be updated to work with the new field. If a new field is introduced into a solution to replace an existing one, when the solution is loaded, there will be a check for the field IDs. The old field (while no longer part of the solution) will be skipped as we do not remove or delete fields to avoid potential data loss. The new field will be created with a new field ID. Assets loaded in with v2.0 will be updated to point to the new field ID and will no longer be associated with the old field from v1.0.

Q: If I copy a workspace loaded from a Solution, and there is an update to the solution that I then load into my organization, will all those workspaces be updated?

A: No, when loading a solution, the workspace is created, and the specific workspace ID is stored. Making a copy of the workspace will create a new workspace with a new ID. Any subsequent load of the solution will only update the original workspace and not the copy that was made.

Q: There is a future update to a Solution, and we need to re-download the whole Solution. What happens to existing workspaces that have been augmented?

A: If you have loaded a Solution, and then a new version comes out, and you want to reload the solution, the changes pushed into the organization by the updated solution are always additive. For example, If the updated solution has new fields, they will be added. If any fields have been changed/removed (in the solution), nothing will be done. We do not want to delete any of your data, so if a new field replaced an old field then the change would be done manually to prevent any type of data loss. This also extends to fields that have been added manually; they will remain unchanged.

Q: I have previously loaded in a Solution with sample data to see how things look. Now I want to load a different solution without sample data, can I do that?

A: Yes, you can. If you have previously loaded a solution with sample data and want to load a different solution without sample data, there may be some overlap in the workspaces between the two solutions. Loading a solution without sample data after loading a solution with sample data will work fine. However, loading a solution without data will not remove data from an existing workspace. If any sample data is no longer needed, it can be deleted directly from the workspace, or the workspace can be removed and the solution loaded again.

*Fields are a global elements with attributes that make them more complicated to manage than component and reference types

**When solutions are referenced, it is to the elements found in the solution module and not the previous version of the delivery mechanism that came with sample data.