Import your Initial Data

Since most companies have already gathered information on their architecture in some form, it makes sense to build your workspace starting with this data. LeanIX offers an easy-to-use Excel interface to import and export data. This interface can be used by everyone, no matter if your architecture information is previously stored in Excel or in another Enterprise Architecture Tool.

In many cases, you will already have a significant amount of structured data in your company. In order to have a quick start using LeanIX, the following process will allow you to quickly import information into your workspace. For basic questions on handling the import/export function, take a look at the section Import & Export your Data.

Data collection and cleaning:

Collect relevant data in Excel sheets
Include attributes and possible relations to other objects
Structure data according to LeanIX Fact Sheet types
Remove duplicates

Data preparation / transformation:

Export Excel sheets for each Fact Sheet type from your workspace
Include relevant attributes (Inventory > Table View > Select Columns)
Copy data from source Excel sheets into import Excel sheets
Prepare one Excel upload sheet per hierarchy level
If tag groups are used, create tag groups and values in LeanIX
If you want to add subscriptions (e.g. Application Owners), create subscription roles first
Leave out relations in this step, focus on objects and attributes

Data uploads (Fact Sheets / attributes):

In case of hierarchies, start with level 1 and continue in ascending order
Upload the data using “Test Run” first
If necessary, analyze mentioned error messages in “Result Excel” and resolve errors
Conduct productive upload after resolving all errors (deselect "Test Run")
Check uploads in inventory (completeness, quality of data and attributes)

Data uploads (relations):

Decide from which Fact Sheet type to build the relation (depends on how your data is structured in the source Excel sheets)
Extract data from LeanIX
Include relevant relation fields (columns) via table view
Concatenate multiple relations via “;” – no “ “ (space) between values and “;”
Perform data upload in “Test Run”
If necessary, analyze mentioned error messages in “Result Excel” and resolve errors
Conduct productive upload after resolving all errors (deselect "Test Run")
Check correctness of uploads in the inventory (Fact Sheets) and reports (e.g. Application / IT Component Landscape)