Greetings!

Happy May! I hope business is well and you are all enjoying warmer weather and sunnier days, as summer gets closer. eRichards has recently done projects involving Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and realized the benefit of this technology. I wanted to share a brief overview with you on how this technology works and how useful it is. Enjoy!

Doreen Gebbia

The term Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) expresses a perspective of software architecture that defines the use of services to support the requirements of software users. In an SOA environment, nodes on a network make resources available to other participants in the network as independent services that the participants access in a standardized way. Most definitions of SOA identify the use of Web services (e.g., using Simple Object Access Protocol - SOAP) in its implementation. However, one can implement SOA using any service-based technology.

Unlike traditional point-to-point architectures, SOAs comprise loosely coupled, highly interoperable services. These services interoperate based on a formal definition (or contract) which is independent of the underlying platform and programming language (e.g., Web Services Description Language - WSDL). The interface definition encapsulates (hides) the vendor and language- specific implementation. A SOA is independent of development technology (such as Java and .NET). The software components become very reusable because the interface is standards-compliant and is independent of the underlying implementation of the service logic. So, for example, a C# (C Sharp) service could be used by a Java application and vice versa.

SOA can support integration and consolidation activities within complex enterprise systems, but SOA does not specify or provide a methodology or framework for documenting capabilities or services.

High-level languages such as BIEL and specifications such as WS-Coordination extend the service concept further by providing a method of defining and supporting orchestration of fine grained services into coarser grained business services, which in turn can be incorporated into workflows and business processes implemented in composite applications or portals.

Implementing SOA architecture, across single or multiple systems, allows companies to be more flexible with their business initiatives now and in the future. For example, SOA architecture can allow basic functionality, such as promoting content from a web application, to be handled by the business unit thus allowing for greater independence.

*Above text from wikipedia with minor modifications.

• Read more on SOA on Oasis' reference pages.

• Find excellent references and links on Wikipedia.

Understanding Enterprise SOA, by Eric L. Pulier and Hugh Taylor

This great read gives technologists and business people an invaluable and until now missing integrated picture of the issues and their interdependencies. You will learn how to think in a big way, moving confidently between technology- and business-level concerns. Written in a comfortable, mentoring style by two industry insiders, the book draws conclusions from actual experiences of real companies in diverse industries.

Intended for both business people and technologists, the book reviews core SOA technologies and uncovers the critical human factors involved in deploying them.

Click here to purchase "Understanding Enterprise SOA"

Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog, by John Grogan

Marley: 100 pounds of unbridled canine exuberance and unrelenting mischief. Marley: proud owner of a tail that could, with metronome-like regularity, clear coffee tables and topple unsuspecting toddlers. Marley: noble member of a breed famous for its ability to guide the blind, who's declared "untrainable" and bounced out of obedience class. A perfect dog? Maybe not. But when they plucked him from a litter 13 years ago, John Grogan and his new wife gamely set out on an adventure that would change their lives forever.

Click here to purchase "Marley & Me"

CIO Insight did a recent study that made us look at how dependent business organizations are on wireless and mobile technologies. The study found that 72% of IT companies said that technical mobility is crucial to their business strategy. Not only that, but the focus within this technology is on improving business processes - not on personal productivity. While the integration and system issues are sometimes complicated, IT execs claim that they can analyze data that is captured within the system much more precisely and quickly. This further proves how crucial technologies and their integration with one another are to business operations in all industries.