SOA is a software design principle

SOA is not Web services

There seems to be general confusion about the relationship between SOA and Web services. In an April 2003 Gartner report, Yefim V. Natis makes the distinction as follows: "Web services are about technology specifications, whereas SOA is a software design principle. Notably, Web services' WSDL is an SOA-suitable interface definition standard: this is where Web services and SOA fundamentally connect." Fundamentally, SOA is an architectural pattern, while Web services are services implemented using a set of standards; Web services is one of the ways you can implement SOA. The benefit of implementing SOA with Web services is that you achieve a platform-neutral approach to accessing services and better interoperability as more and more vendors support more and more Web services specifications.

What is service-oriented architecture?

What is service-oriented architecture?

Service Oriented Architecture(SOA) is an evolution of distributed computing based on the request/reply design paradigm for synchronous and asynchronous applications. An Application is a business logic or individual functions are modularized and presented as services for consumer/client applications. What’s key to these services is their loosely coupled nature i.e. the service interface is independent of the implementation. Application developers or system integrators can build applications by composing one more services without knowing the service underlying implementations .For example a service can be implemented either in .Net or in J2EE and the application consuming the service can be on different platform or language.

Service-oriented architectures have the following key characteristics:

·          SOA services have self-describing interfaces in platform-independent XML documents. Web Services Description Language (WSDL) is the standard used to describe the services.

·          SOA services communicate with messages formally defined via XML Schema (also called XSD). Communication among consumers and providers or services typically happens in heterogeneous environments, with little or no knowledge about the provider. Messages between services can be viewed as key business documents processed in an enterprise

·          SOA services are maintained in the enterprise by a registry that acts as a directory listing. Applications can look up the services in the registry and invoke the service. Universal Description, Definition, and Integration (UDDI) is the standard used for service registry.

Each SOA service has a quality of service (QoS) associated with it. Some of the key QoS elements are security requirements, such as authentication and authorization, reliable messaging, and policies regarding who can invoke services

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SOA –Service oriented Architechture

What is it ?

Answer- Organizations are looking for a ways to make their applications, business processes, data and IT infrasctructure more modular and flexible. SOA meets these challenges hands-on.

In a Service Oriented Architecture systems are composed of reusable compoments, called services. A service is a software building block that performs a distinct function such as- retrieving customer information from database.  Because these services are ‘loosely coupled’ rather than tightly coupled integrations, service-oriented infrastructures and applications can change as quickly as business needs changes. SOA works with legacy and existing system through wrap and reused as opposed to  rip and replace, so service can be constructed , deployed and reused virtually on demand , and easily integrated enterprise wide, across multiple platform.

How do you apply it?

Answer- Middleware is critical. While it has its roots in common integration this category of software has  evolved to encompass some of the most fundamental components of information enterprise and offers complete support for the development, deployment and management of SOA. In fact middleware is the most strategic area  of IT  today. It’s how you initiate business invocation ;optimize business processes; uncover business insight and manage risk such as security, access control , and corporate governanace.

However the vital starting point is not technology. Instead of understanding the business service that are needed, demonstrating business success and gaining early business approval are essential.SOA is ideally suited to incremental deployment  while invest can be made by step-by-step basis tied to individual project – hence the need to understand  the understand the business requirement at the outset.

What are the benefits?

Answer- The fundamental reason for moving towards SOA is greater business and IT flexibility and agility, and because it works with what organizations already own there is no need to rip out and replace what you ‘ve already invested in. These are enormous advantages with wide reaching implications across every enterprise. Depending on the industry it is used in, and the most vital core services it supports, SOA can provide dramatic improvements in compliance , operational efficiency and customer retention.

What’s more, you don’t have to invest heavily to build an extensive architecture before you can see the real benefits- from the first project you can transform the IT assets of a business , making it possible to do more with less, far faster than before. SOA is a key step towards the goal of a truly agile business where new business initiatives can be deployed as needed- with the necessary underlying IT support- with minimal delay.

Why now?

Answer- The standards behind SOA have been around for years –but they are only  now reaching maturity. The evidence is inconvertible. Every leading vendor of software development tools and business application is supporting the adoption of SOA. The long region monolithic applications is coming to an end.SOA has created a new age of flexible , plug and play services and the next generation of competitive advantage will belong to those who seize it.