| Title: |
Understanding SOA |
| Author: |
David Sprott and Lawrence Wilkes |
| Publication Date: |
23 September 2003 |
| Report Type: |
Journal |
| Report Class: |
Best Practice |
| Abstract: |
If there was a hit parade of IT acronyms, SOA or Service Oriented Architecture would surely be number one. Yet for all the media comment, how many really understand what SOA is? For the architect, CIO, project manager, business analyst or lead developer, what do they do differently? Whilst we have published many reports on SOA, we have tended to focus and drill down particular aspects. In this report we provide a concise explanation that we anticipate will baseline the subject. |
| Backgrounder: |
It seems probable that eventually most software capabilities will be delivered and consumed as services. Of course they will be implemented as tightly coupled systems, but the point of usage – to the portal, to the device, to another endpoint, etc will be using a service based interface. I have seen the comment that architects and designers need to be cautious to avoid the syndrome that everything becomes a service. I think this is incorrect, and muddled thinking. It may be valid right now given the state of the art to question whether everything is implemented using Web Services, but that doesn’t detract from the need to design everything from a service perspective. The service interface is the major construct for publishing and should be used at the point of each significant interface.
Over time, the level of abstraction at which functionality is specified, published and or consumed has been gradually been getting higher and higher. We have progressed from modules, to objects, to components and now services. However in many respects the naming of SOA is unfortunate. Whilst SOA is of course about architecture, it is impossible to constrain the discussion to architecture, because matters such as business design and the delivery process are important considerations.
In this report we shall identify the characteristics of a well formed service, and provide guidance for architects and designers on how to deliver service oriented applications. |
| Report Size: |
11 Pages |
| Report Access Type: |
 | Silver/Gold (Premium) |
|
| Available for separate purchase |
Single copies of recent CBDI Journals may be purchased |
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