Do we need more that SOA for a modern application architecture?

Do we need more that SOA for a modern application architecture? By Eric Roch (Chief Technologist)

I am presenting a webniar tomorrow on crating applications using modern architecture - registration.

There is more involved in building a modern architecture than just Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). While SOA is certainly a big part of the solution, a total modern architecture also includes leveraging business process management (BPM), data management and Web 2.0 technologies.

SOA alone does not implicitly improve governance, IT strategy or business alignment, and top-down, strategic SOA has been largely disappointing. Join us as this month’s Perficient Perspectives looks at how you can leverage your existing IT investments to create a truly modern architecture.

Discussion topics include:

• The promise, hype and reality of SOA
• SOA and data management
• SOA and BPM
• SOA and Web 2.0
• Putting it all together
• Case Study: Architecture modernization
• Case Study: SOA, BPM, and data service
• Maximizing SOA benefits and ROI

Speaker Eric Roch is Principal, SOA/Integration Solutions and GM of Perficient's national TIBCO EAI practice. He has more than 20 years' experience in IT and has been working extensively with SOA technologies for 10 years. Eric has designed and managed SOA projects in excess of 500 services and with budgets over $10M. He is a regular speaker at IT industry events maintains the popular Business Integration and SOA blog.

As Chief Technologist and National Practice Director for SOA with Perficient, Inc., I get the opportunity to work with a lot of customers implementing SOA. See my bio page for my contact information or just post a comment if you want to talk about your SOA projects.

Source: For more SOA Service Oriented Architecture information, visit Toolbox.com.

SOA and Cloud Computing

SOA and Cloud Computing by Eric Roch (Chief Technologist)

I have been too busy to blog lately - a good new year's resolution for next year - blog more. But here is some good advise I want to pass on.

Paul Fremantle - SOA and Cloud - My strong belief is that Cloud based systems must be built on SOA and modern Enterprise Architecture principals if they are to be effective. In many ways the issue is this: today's cloud applications are often well-defined, clean, insular applications. That is because the typical messy, interconnected enterprise app simply cannot be built in the cloud today. The data isn't available and so companies looking to create cloud applications tend naturally to avoid those. But over time, as these cloud applications grow and more appear, the interconnectedness with each other and with internal data and applications will grow and we will end up with the twisted balls of spaghetti that we've spent the last 10 years unpicking in the Enterprise.

My advice? Don't do it! Start with a simple but clearly defined SOA/Enterprise Architecture for your Cloud applications and in three years time you can look smugly at your competitors as they struggle to do things you find easy.

Source: For more SOA Service Oriented Architecture information ,visit ToolBox.com.

SOA 2009: Do we need architects or firefighters?

ZDNet blogging colleague Ian Finley just posted an interesting question that reflects ever-shifting priorities in today’s rough-and-tumble economy: “When the building’s on fire, who calls an architect? …No one does. They call the fire department.” He advises enterprise architects and vendors alike to put down their plans and ESBs, put on firefighters’ hats and boots, and get in there and help battle the flames.

It makes perfect sense that priorities need to be focused on marshaling resources on the “right projects.” Ian says the current economic situation is actually a great opportunity for enterprise architects and vendors to show the mettle of SOA, and I agree. This is the time to demonstrate how SOA can deliver greater efficiencies, agility and faster time to market than the old way of doing IT. And, indeed, we see SOA returning to its more entrepreneurial roots, with more projects addressing pressing tactical issues, led by smaller, more agile teams.

Interestingly — and I never considered this — Ian compares the current time to the Y2K crisis of a decade ago. As he puts it, “You have to go back to the Y2K panic to find a time when so many companies had the same #1 requirement.”

However, just to put things in perspective, there’s nothing new about the crisis “firefighting” mentality regarding IT deployments. In fact, that’s been the problem all along. This mentality has stretched IT resources thin for years now — through good times and bad. In fact, firefighting may even be more intense in fast-growth times, because companies are scrambling to add new lines of business and increase market share, creating plenty of digital waste and stretching IT resources way beyond their limits.

Yes, enterprises need to be faster moving and more entrepreneurial. But IT planning looks two to three years down the road, as it must. When you drive, you’re not looking down at the space in front of your bumpers — you’re looking 100, 200, 300 yards ahead to the horizon, to anticipate what’s going to happen.

Remember, economic slumps don’t last forever. It’s likely the recovery will kick in sooner than we think. And when it does, it will be fast and furious with pent-up demand, especially as business technology wishlists come back online. And the firefighting will continue.

A deliberate, more long-term architectural approach is needed as well — throwing hardware, software, resources, and consultants at problems willy-nilly in firefighting mode is expensive and gums up agility, and that’s what keeps happening. And that’s what SOA is supposed to tamp down.

By Joe McKendrick is an author and consultant with deep knowledge and insights regarding trends and developments in the technology industry. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.

Source: SOA Service Oriented Architecture information at ZDNet.

Five fearless predictions for SOA 2009

The year 2008 was the best of times and the worst of times for service oriented architecture.

SOA seemed to become more and more pervasive across companies, and many companies in general seemed positive about the results being delivered so far. At the same time, there has been no shortage of anti-SOA backlash and skepticism about the return on investment and business value of SOA.

What lies in the year ahead? Here are some fearless predictions about the shape of things to come:

1) Economic turmoil will return SOA to its roots — bottom up, incremental. Uncertainty in the economy will carry through 2009, but we’ll move into the recovery stage. However, this won’t change the razor-edge competitive environment — companies will continue to seek solutions that help streamline and cut costs. This is a natural role for SOA-based practices — remember, Web services and SOA were forged in the wake of the downturn of 2001 as a way to increase IT efficiency and value to the business with minimal additional investments. There will be fewer big-bang SOA projects rolled across the whole enterprise, and many more incremental, bottom-up efforts — many of which may be under the radar. More guerrilla SOA, if you will. SOA will also make it easier for companies in mergers, acquisitions, or restructurings to reconstitute themselves.

2) Vendors will de-emphasize SOA as a distinct “product” offering. There will be less hype about SOA, but that doesn’t mean it will have gone away. New solutions and applications will have service-oriented aspects. Cloud offerings will be built in accordance with SOA principles. There won’t be a lot of start-up vendors pitching SOA solutions, but plenty of start-ups will be offering Web 2.0-type and cloud-based services, which will be underpinned by SOA principles.

3) Internal clouds and micro-outsourcing. There has been a lot of industry discussion about the “internal cloud,” in which services are provided to users and systems within organizations. The beauty of internal clouds, of course, is that they offer more control over applications and data. Clearly a natural role for SOA, which will be the backbone of any emerging internal clouds. As part of this role, expect to see SOA play a greater role in grid computing and virtualization as well. Externally as well, more SOA initiatives will include services from outside the firewall — a sort of “micro-outsourcing” of application functionality.

4) More attention to the data element. Companies may do a great job of streamlining and leveraging processes, but often ignore the quality and viability of the data flowing through these processes. Which makes for unsuccessful processes and unsuccessful SOA. At a time when “competing on analytics” will make a difference, companies will be paying more attention to the data their SOAs are serving up.

5) More Web 2.0 tools in the SOA world — and new governance issues. The convergence of Web 2.0 and SOA practices means more interesting approaches to old problems, such as gathering business intelligence. And mashups — many of which may even be designed by users themselves under the watchful eyes of IT — will become the default composite application of choice for accessing services both internally from SOA-enabled systems and externally. Organizations that have already been wrestling with governance issues for SOA will find themselves with the question of how deeply to regulate mashups and other Web 2.0-ish activities.

By Joe McKendrick is an author and consultant with deep knowledge and insights regarding trends and developments in the technology industry. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.

Source: SOA Service Oriented Architecture articles at ZDNet.

SOA in and beyond the credit crunch

Service-oriented architecture in and beyond the credit crunch by Jim Mortleman

There has been much debate recently over the fate of "service-oriented architecture" (SOA).

In January, Burton Group analyst Anne Thomas Manes declared the term effectively dead, a victim of the hype muddying its meaning and the budget cuts affecting large IT projects.

The discussion continued at the SD West conference in Silicon Valley earlier this month, where a series of panellists tore strips off SOA.

David Platt, author of " Why software sucks and what you can do about it" said, "Like any other buzzword it got thrown at everything to see where it would stick."

But, although a majority feel the term has been devalued, even its harshest detractors believe the fundamental concept it embodies - a set of loosely coupled, interoperable business services which talk to one another using open web protocols - is very much alive.

Such an approach allows organisations to build and deploy new applications and services quickly, using whatever mix of in-house and external services best serves their needs.

As Thomas Manes wrote, "SOA is survived by its offspring: mashups, business process management (BPM), software as a service (SaaS), cloud computing and all other architectural approaches that depend on services."

Dennis Quan, director of autonomic computing development at IBM, drives much of the company's cloud computing agenda. He thinks SOA will be critical to the emerging cloud IT landscape.

"SOA is still very much in play. Cloud computing is about delivering highly scaleable services across the network and right at the heart of that is the notion of services.

"In the beginning, a lot of the focus was on software as a service, but today we are seeing it applied more broadly, with the emergence of things like processing power, platforms, storage and applications as a service - delivered from large, scaleable (and often multi-tenanted) datacentres. SOA provides the framework both for managing the cloud centre and tying together services into the composite applications customers end up using," he says.

Analysts such as Gartner have been talking up cloud computing since the crunch, lauding its potential for cutting costs. It is true many firms are looking at consolidating server farms by virtualising their infrastructure - but how many have made a strategic commitment to deploying a service-based architecture on that virtualised infrastructure, or plan to use externally-hosted cloud services?

Nick Kirkland, chief executive of IT leaders' forum CIO Connect, says, "It is a very, very small proportion. The service providers who support this stuff have a very gung-ho, can-do attitude. But the message we are getting back from our members - some of the most senior CIOs in the country - is that they are listening, but they are not convinced yet.

"There tends to be a range of thoughts from the high-level 'this could change our cost model' to the low-level 'Google Mail went down last week - how could I run a business on that sort of thing?'.

"Fundamentally, people are still asking what this actually means. Indeed, we are running a briefing on this shortly to try to clear up some of the confusion."

But he stresses interest is rising, and more CIOs are "dipping a toe in the water".

"An increasing number are trying out cloud computing in a careful way for projects that do not involve sensitive data," Kirkland says.

But corporate CIOs need to balance the much-touted cost-efficiency benefits against issues such as information security, project management, availability, governance and data portability. Since cloud standards for all these issues are still evolving, CIOs of large organisations are unlikely to buy wholesale into the concept of cloud-based SOA just yet.

Psychometric testing provider SHL has been using the cloud for a year for development and trialling purposes. Chief information technology officer Andy Ross says, "We are very pleased with the results: it was quick and very cost effective to set up with the provider we used.

"We do have to put more daily-type support in than we would like, and for that reason we see it as a development or quasi-production tool rather than a full-blown production environment - but I can see that coming.

"We are a Microsoft shop and fully virtualised using Capgemini's utility infrastructure so we are already part-way to achieving the full flexibility of the cloud. My advice would be for rapid trialling and development, you should try the cloud. For production, we want to see a bit more maturity."

But IBM's Quan says it is vital to separate the idea of public cloud computing (where an external provider offers hosted, cloud-based services to clients, such as Amazon's EC3 and S3 cloud-based processing and storage services, or Google's Apps suite) from internal or private clouds.

The latter, Quan says, can be employed as the basis of an organisation's SOA without putting data or processes at any more risk than normal. "There has been a lot of attention placed on public cloud centres, but we believe the private cloud - whether managed in-house or by a trusted provider - is central to the hybrid cloud computing strategy we think will become dominant in the next two years.

"With the right architecture in place, cloud-based datacentres offer organisations lower management costs, the ability to bring services online very quickly, and elasticity of resources. At the same time, they are able to gain these economic benefits while still retaining fine-grain control over their data security and governance models," he says.

Guy Bunker, chief scientist at Symantec and a member of cross-sector security task force the Jericho Forum, agrees private clouds mitigate many of the risks for large organisations. But he also believes companies need not eschew public cloud services completely, since these will likely form a major part of corporate IT once standards have settled down.

"Some of the companies using the cloud in earnest - such as big pharmaceutical companies like Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca - are doing exactly that. They are using Amazon's EC2 for certain services, but not for those handling any sensitive data.

"Large organisations should look at public cloud services, but they need to be aware of the pitfalls so they can ask the right questions of their providers.

"Then, depending on their appetite for risk, they can decide whether a particular function, application or whatever is suitable for the cloud given its current state of maturity," Bunker says.

While private clouds offer significant benefits for risk-cautious businesses, Richard Hall, founder of cloud computing consultancy CloudOrigin and an experienced former corporate chief technology officer himself, believes the sheer economies of scale achieved by public cloud providers will inevitably mean they dominate in future.

"Although there may be some benefits looking at internal clouds, particularly as a sandbox to explore concepts, I suspect the real commercial benefits (savings on infrastructure and, unfortunately, headcount) will kick in only when an organisation moves to a major public cloud platform," Hall says.

In 2009, the companies with most to gain from cloud computing will be industrial-scale users of infrastructure looking for major savings, or startups who never want to make heavy IT investments. Such companies should be looking at the architectural choices for cloud platforms with respect to software design and infrastructure deployment.

Many will actively trial technology and approaches this year, with a view to deployment into 2010 as the major platforms such as Windows Azure mature into production," says Hall. "Then I think the first few snowflakes we are seeing now will turn into a full-blown avalanche," he says.

Case study: Isle of Man

On a budget he jokes is "less than John Prescott's expense account", Allan Patterson, director of the Isle of Man's government information systems division, has delivered an internal cloud-based SOA that could be a showcase in microcosm for what much larger organisations will be doing in future.

"It is what I would call 'building a virtual house'," says Patterson.

"The foundations are our twin active virtualised datacentres running on a Windows platform and our IP network across the whole government estate of 250-300 locations - GPs' surgeries, schools, sub Post Offices, etc.

"On top of that is the equivalent of the pipework and wiring - the common services - which mean we can build something once and use it many times."

This has drastically reduced the IT organisation's costs, but also brings wider benefits.

Patterson says, "We have seen a massive take-up of online services such as web payments by the business community and individuals - we now have about 5,500 users for online services, which for the Isle of Man is huge.

"I strongly believe this is how we make government-to-business more effective. We have even got people who no longer maintain tax books because they trust us to do it - so there are efficiencies for end-users as well."

Source : SOA Service Oriented Architecture information at ComputerWeekly.com

IBM SOA - The Smart SOA Approach

Service Oriented Architecture from IBM: the Smart SOA™ approach

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a business-centric IT architectural approach that supports integrating your business as linked, repeatable business tasks, or services. With the Smart SOA approach, you can find value at every stage of the SOA continuum, from departmental projects to enterprise-wide initiatives.

For more IBM SOA Service Oriented Architecture information ,visit IBM SOA.

SOA Definition

A service-oriented architecture is essentially a collection of services. These services communicate with each other. The communication can involve either simple data passing or it could involve two or more services coordinating some activity. Some means of connecting services to each other is needed.

Service-oriented architectures are not a new thing. The first service-oriented architecture for many people in the past was with the use DCOM or Object Request Brokers (ORBs) based on the CORBA specification.

Services
If a service-oriented architecture is to be effective, we need a clear understanding of the term service. A service is a function that is well-defined, self-contained, and does not depend on the context or state of other services

Connections
The technology of Web services (new window) is the most likely connection technology of service-oriented architectures. Web services essentially use XML (new window) to create a robust connection.

For more SOA Service Oriented Architecture Definition, visit service-architecture.com

SAP SOA - Business Benefits

SAP SOA Service-Oriented Architecture - Business Benefits

Today, your IT department must adapt as fast as business can, if not faster, and even anticipate change. By deploying a standards-based service-oriented architecture (SOA), you can increase flexibility and control your costs. SOA goes beyond the common concept of Web services and provides an enterprise infrastructure and approach that achieves optimal business results within heterogeneous landscapes.

SOA allows you to create new applications on top of existing enterprise solutions, increasing the value of your current systems and automating new processes. With SOA, you can:

Quickly adapt business processes – Service-oriented architecture enables you to separate the interface and process definition from the underlying application. This results in faster implementations and more cost-effective upgrades, deployed as needed and without the business interruptions of "big-bang" approaches.

Attract new customers – With service-oriented architecture, you can take advantage of Web services to deliver core competencies to new customer segments – while reducing IT costs and increasing efficiency.

Out-task – Service-oriented architecture allows you to connect to external partners, enabling you to access expert services, reduce costs and asset liabilities, and focus on your core competencies – all while retaining visibility and control into critical processes.

Extend and automate your value network – Service-oriented architecture allows you to model and automate the terms of a business relationship, so you can extend business models and value chains with optimum speed and transparency.

Innovate – Most significantly, service-oriented architecture enables SAP partners and customers to deploy innovative solutions that take advantage of existing systems. With SOA, you can run new processes on top of existing applications.

Source: SAP SOA at www.sap.com

SAP - SOA The Blueprint for an Open IT Architecture

SAP SERVICE-ORIENTED ARCHITECTURE - E BLUEPRINT FOR AN OPEN IT ARCHITECTURE

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is a blueprint for an adaptable, flexible, and open IT architecture for developing services-based, modular business solutions. SAP makes it easy to adopt SOA – enabling companies in diverse industries to quickly differentiate their businesses and optimize processes in their business networks. SAP enables businesses to adopt SOA at their own pace as part of their SAP solutions.

SAP's open-standards approach to SOA improves IT productivity and business value at the same time. At the heart of our approach to SOA is the concept of enterprise services – highly integrated Web services, combined with business logic and harmonized semantics, that can be accessed and used repeatedly to enable end-to-end business processes.
Using enterprise services, you can leverage SAP solutions in conjunction with partner solutions and homegrown solution landscapes to build new, flexible, and innovative solutions based on a consistent integration concept.

SAP and our partners can help your IT organization adopt SOA in a low-risk manner by delivering SOA-based technology, service-enabled applications, and prepackaged enterprise services grouped as business scenarios. SAP delivers SOA seamlessly via the service-enabled software (SAP Business Suite) and SOA-based, open technology platform (SAP NetWeaver). SAP consultants deliver services that complement SAP applications and accelerate SOA adoption.

We offer comprehensive methodology for design and development as well as operational SOA governance. This helps ensure high service reuse, reliable execution, efficient IT operations – and a reduction in cost. Modeling and implementation guidelines for service developers increase development efficiency. Moreover, SAP's enterprise services follow the enhancement package concept, so you can add new functionality continuously, without extended upgrade cycles.
To get started with SAP SOA download your starter kit today.

Source: SAP SOA at www.sap.com

SAP SOA - Business Benefits

SAP SOA : Service-Oriented Architecture - Business Benefits

Today, your IT department must adapt as fast as business can, if not faster, and even anticipate change. By deploying a standards-based service-oriented architecture (SOA), you can increase flexibility and control your costs. SOA goes beyond the common concept of Web services and provides an enterprise infrastructure and approach that achieves optimal business results within heterogeneous landscapes.

SOA allows you to create new applications on top of existing enterprise solutions, increasing the value of your current systems and automating new processes. With SOA, you can:

Quickly adapt business processes – Service-oriented architecture enables you to separate the interface and process definition from the underlying application. This results in faster implementations and more cost-effective upgrades, deployed as needed and without the business interruptions of "big-bang" approaches.

Attract new customers – With service-oriented architecture, you can take advantage of Web services to deliver core competencies to new customer segments – while reducing IT costs and increasing efficiency.

Out-task – Service-oriented architecture allows you to connect to external partners, enabling you to access expert services, reduce costs and asset liabilities, and focus on your core
competencies – all while retaining visibility and control into critical processes.

Extend and automate your value network – Service-oriented architecture allows you to model and automate the terms of a business relationship, so you can extend business models and value chains with optimum speed and transparency.

Innovate – Most significantly, service-oriented architecture enables SAP partners and customers to deploy innovative solutions that take advantage of existing systems. With SOA, you can run new processes on top of existing applications.

Source: For more SAP SOA Business Benefits, visit SAP SOA.

SAP SOA - The Blueprint for an Open IT Architecture

SERVICE-ORIENTED ARCHITECTURE (SOA) - THE BLUEPRINT FOR AN OPEN IT ARCHITECTURE

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is a blueprint for an adaptable, flexible, and open IT architecture for developing services-based, modular business solutions. SAP makes it easy to adopt SOA – enabling companies in diverse industries to quickly differentiate their businesses and optimize processes in their business networks. SAP enables businesses to adopt SOA at their own pace as part of their SAP solutions.

SAP's open-standards approach to SOA improves IT productivity and business value at the same time. At the heart of our approach to SOA is the concept of enterprise services – highly integrated Web services, combined with business logic and harmonized semantics, that can be accessed and used repeatedly to enable end-to-end business processes.

Using enterprise services, you can leverage SAP solutions in conjunction with partner solutions and homegrown solution landscapes to build new, flexible, and innovative solutions based on a consistent integration concept.

SAP and our partners can help your IT organization adopt SOA in a low-risk manner by delivering SOA-based technology, service-enabled applications, and prepackaged enterprise services grouped as business scenarios. SAP delivers SOA seamlessly via the service-enabled software (SAP Business Suite) and SOA-based, open technology platform (SAP NetWeaver). SAP consultants deliver services that complement SAP applications and accelerate SOA adoption.

We offer comprehensive methodology for design and development as well as operational SOA governance. This helps ensure high service reuse, reliable execution, efficient IT operations – and a reduction in cost. Modeling and implementation guidelines for service developers increase development efficiency. Moreover, SAP's enterprise services follow the enhancement package concept, so you can add new functionality continuously, without extended upgrade cycles.
To get started with SAP SOA download your starter kit today.

Source: For more SOA SAP, visit SAP SOA Website.

Change Player Size Watch this video in a new windowIBM Smart SOA Application Foundation

This video introduces the capabilities of the complete set of products that fall under the Smart SOA Application Foundation Adoption Pattern. See how fictional company "JK Enterprise" uses this Suite of products to deliver benefits across the organisation.

Oracle OpenWorld 2009: Intel SOA Expressway for External Web Service Security

Phi Berman (Intel) talks about Intel's SOA Expressway solutions for External Web Service Security and Performance.

SOA Event : SAP TechEd 2009

SAP TechEd 2009: Maximize Your Impact
November 11, 2009 - November 12, 2009
Shanghai International Convention Center, Shanghai, China

Dive deep into the world of SAP TechEd to get hands-on technical training, build real connections with SAP experts and community members, and gain the inspiration and skills needed to maximize your impact on your organization while enhancing your career. Now — more than ever — companies need people and IT solutions that can efficiently leverage and adapt to change. At SAP TechEd, you will learn how to use the power and flexibility of the SAP NetWeaver technology platform, SAP BusinessObjects solutions, and SAP Business Suite applications to reduce the total cost of ownership across your IT landscape.

Topics Covered : Active Global Support, Aerospace & Defense, Alloy, Analyst Relations, Automotive , Banking , Best Practices, Best Run Now, BPO Powered by SAP, Business Maps, Business Solutions, Chemicals , Compliance Calibrator, Consulting, Consumer Products , Custom Development, Defense & Security , Duet, EC&O, Endorsed Business Solutions, SOA, Financial, Financing, Healthcare , High Tech , Higher Ed & Research, Hospitality, IM&C, Industry Value Network, Insurance , Investor Relations, Life Sciences , Manufacturing, Media , Mill Products , Mining , Oil & Gas , Packaged Services, Packaged Solutions, Portfolio, Press, Professional Svcs , Public Sector , SAP Ramp-Up, Retail , SAP Business All-in-One, SAP Business ByDesign, SAP Business One, Business Process Expert (BPX), SAP Business Suite, SAP BusinessObjects portfolio, SAP BusinessObjects BI solutions, SAP BusinessObjects EPM solutions, SAP BusinessObjects for small/midsize companies, SAP BusinessObjects GRC solutions, SAP BusinessObjects IM solutions, SAP BusinessObjects OnDemand offerings, SAP CRM, SAP ERP , SAP ERP Corporate Svcs, SAP ERP Financials, SAP ERP HCM, SAP ERP Operations , SAP Managed Services, SAP NetWeaver, SAP Partners, SAP PLM, SAP R/3, SAP SCM, SAP Services, SAP solutions for small and midsize enterprises, SAP solutions for sustainability, SAP SRM, SAP xApps, SAP xApps for Mobile Business, SDN, Solution Extensions, SOX Compliance, Svc & Asset Mgmt, TCO Framework, Telecommunications , Travel & Logistics Services, User Performance Mgmt , Utilities , Wholesale Distribution

Source: For more SOA Event, SAP TechEd2009, visit SAP Website.

IBM SOA - Service Connectivity

What is service connectivity?

Service connectivity is an IT-centric entry point to service oriented architecture (SOA) that helps to simplify your IT environment with a more secure, reliable and scaleable approach to connect within and beyond your business. By linking people, processes and information in your business with a seamless flow of messages and information from virtually anywhere at anytime using anything — that's true connectivity. SOA brings new levels of flexible connections with well-defined, standards-based interfaces, eliminating the complex and confusing interconnections that can hinder your business. Delivering real business value on its own, connectivity is also a core building block for future SOA initiatives.

The value of service connectivity

For a business taking the first few steps into SOA, opening your doors to customers and partners as a way to easily interact with your company is of high importance. Enabling exceptional connectivity through your SOA you can deliver a consistent user experience regardless of what business channel they choose. Also, by linking your own business units or divisions across the multiple parts of your company, you can build a foundation for success and benefit from the agility of an SOA approach. IBM entry strategy to SOA through service connectivity can help:

Ensure seamless flow of messages from anywhere at anytime using anything.Execute broad business processes that span your company and out to business partners.Build trusted relationships with existing and new partners.Scale your business to become more flexible and dynamic.Deliver a consistent user experience regardless of channel or device.Simplify existing applications to focus on business logic instead of connectivity.Increase access to existing functions without changes to applications.Reduce the maintenance needed when your business changes.

Service connectivity is a key part of IT strategies for every business today. Businesses are looking at SOA to help their business become more flexible and responsive. For SOA the Connectivity Entry Point is fundamental to the success of a SOA strategy and deployment.

Source: For more IBM SOA, visit IBM SOA - Service Connectivity.

IBM SOA - Reuse

What is service creation and reuse?

Service creation and reuse is an IT-centric entry point to service oriented architecture (SOA) that focuses on deriving continued and additional value from previous asset investments, identifying services to be outsourced and designing new services to fill portfolio gaps. By viewing an SOA project from a service creation and reuse aspect, you can significantly lower development and maintenance costs and risks - enabling you to take new services and offerings to market faster.

The value of service creation and reuseImprove efficiency. Reduce risk. Cut cost. Existing applications are among the most valuable assets a company owns. Applications throughout the enterprise support core business processes and handle the majority of customer, product, supply chain and channel information. Reuse of these common functions will encourage repeatable business behaviour and reduce the chance of errors in execution or data capture; maximizing the reuse of these services enhances business flexibility and provides a return on investment. Another reason to focus more on repeating, common functions is to ensure your business can differentiate itself both internally and externally. The IBM entry strategy to SOA through service creation and reuse can help:

Reduce the amount of new code that must be created for business initiatives.Lower maintenance cost by eliminating redundant systems.Expedite the roll-out of new business functions by creating shareable composite services and functions from within your applications.Integrate tasks performed by your legacy applications into broader business functions to establish a simple and effective means to enhance usefulness of mainframe-based systems and provide the capability wider across the business.Resolve through faster, simple responsiveness challenges such as technology obsolescence, skills scarcity or significant business events including merger or acquisition.Identify already existing functions such as CRM access in existing applications and processes.Extend green-screen applications to the Web or to an SOA to realize immediate payback in reduced end user training and improved staff productivity.

Successful reuse of IT assets is at the very core of an effective and cost-efficient SOA. With continual constraint on resources and a need for agile response to changes in market opportunities, as well as a drive for high quality code in production, reuse of proven existing and new assets becomes essential in meeting these needs.

Source: For more IBM SOA, visit IBM SOA - Reuse.

IBM SOA - Information as a Service

What is information as a service?

Information as a service is an entry point to service oriented architecture (SOA) that offers information access to complex, heterogeneous data sources within your company as reusable services. These services may be available both within the enterprise and across your value chain. By entering SOA from an information vantage, you may improve the availability and consistency of information, while simultaneously removing traditional barriers to information sharing. Drive innovation by better understanding your organization’s operational, transactional, analytical, and unstructured information and making it available in new ways through SOA.

The value of information as a service

Establish information as a service to ensure consistent definitions, packaging, and governance of key business data. Provide information services that can be easily reused across processes and independently maintained to enable more business flexibility and increase IT resource productivity. The IBM entry strategy to SOA through information can help:

Collect, clean and make your data accessible:
Develop a unified view of their business with inline access to analytical data for improved transparency and business insight.Generate and govern authoritative master data records with shared metadata and data quality services for master data management.

Reduce cost and risk:
Reduce costs associated with infrastructure rationalization and migration by decoupling information from siloed information sources.Reduce risk exposure through in line analytics and auditable data quality for risk and compliance initiatives.Increase your organizations agility:

Increase the agility for business transformation by providing reusable information services, spanning structured and unstructured information that can be plugged into applications, business processes, and portals. At the same time lower development costs associated with accessing and transforming data.

For more IBM SOA, visit IBM SOA Information as a Service.