Understanding Enterprise SOA: SOA for enterprise application integration

Understanding Enterprise SOA: SOA for enterprise application integration

Written by Eric Pulier and Hugh Taylor with forward by Paul Gaffney and reproduced from "Understanding Enterprise SOA" by permission of Manning Publications Co. ISBN 1932394591, copyright 2005. All rights reserved. See http://www.manning.com

The following excerpt continues to look at the IT and management issues at Titan Insurance, a fictitious business that the book uses as a case study in Service-Oriented Architecture. The excerpt refers to "Jay," who is an employee of Titan's IT department. There is also a reference to the "Atticus Finch Technique," which refers to a process of asking a question only when one knows the answer in advance. (An allusion to the novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird".)

5.1 Is Titan happy with its EAI?

5.2 How web services can simplify EAI

5.3 Web services in portals

5.4 Web services in software development

5.5 The savvy manager cautions: limitations of web services in EAI

5.6 Summary

I explain to Jay that web services and the service-oriented architecture (SOA) have the potential to facilitate real change in enterprise application integration (EAI). In addition, the new technology can have a major impact on two related areas: portals and software development. All three of these endeavors currently suffer from difficulties caused by proprietary standards. In this chapter, we look in detail at the way the open nature of web services may offer some welcome relief.