These days all the big corporate organizations have heterogeneous technologies in their IT departments. When new business requirements come up, IT departments cannot just take away their existing applications; rather, they must re-use their existing investments. Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is popular because
1) It allows you to reuse the existing IT resources.
2) and interoperability between heterogeneous technologies and applications are possible.
What is SOA?
The concept of a service is quite old, but SOA has evolved over the past few of years. It’s a software architecture framework style of developing software applications that will have loose coupling between its components so that we can reuse them. Thus, it’s a new way of building applications. SOA represents a dramatic change in the relationship between business and IT. SOA makes technology a true business enabler and empowers business and technology leaders alike.
Why SOA?
SOA can make it easier and faster to build and deploy IT systems that directly serve the goals of a business. Contemporary business is completely reliant on its IT, and never have business and IT needed to be more aligned. The very survival of a business hinges on its ability to adapt its IT to meet ever-changing business challenges. SOA integrates business and IT into a framework that simultaneously leverages existing systems and enables business change. A Service Oriented Architecture enables the business to keep its focus on business and allows IT to evolve and keep pace in a dynamically changing world.
We divide the world of SOA into the business services layer and the plumbing layer. Imagine a diagram that shows all the software that your organization runs. Divide it into the business services layer and into the plumbing layer. The business services layer contains your business logic. Your plumbing deals with your computing resources.
Business managers need not understand the intricacies of the plumbing layer and everything it contains. If you cover up the plumbing layer, you are left with a diagram that shows all the business services that software applications provide, both inside your organization and to others that interact (technologically speaking) from outside, like your customers, business partners, and suppliers.
Conclusion
Service Oriented Architecture is not a quick fix, but a very rewarding adventure. It’s an approach built on industry standards – with large doses of forethought and planning. It is indeed a journey. We hope this book inspires you and helps you get started.
