Creating a SOA Adoption Plan

Develop – Educate – Blueprint – Prepare SOA is a strategic initiative to gain a competitive advantage by exploiting the power of IT. If executed properly, SOA increases the adaptability of IT systems, enabling IT to respond more quickly to changing business requirements. It also enables faster integration of business processes---both internally and with customers, partners, and suppliers.

The core unit of design in SOA is a shared, reusable service that implements a discrete piece of business functionality. The service exposes its functionality through a well-defined interface. Any application that requires the functionality uses the service. A single service may be used in the construction of multiple composite applications.

The documents included in Stage 1 provide a foundation for initial assessment of SOA as a strategic initiative for the enterprise. These documents provide a gateway to understanding how SOA works, how it is different from traditional application development, and how it will affect the enterprise that adopts it as a strategy. They also provide guidance to help an organization understand its current state-- its baseline for SOA adoption.

Documents

• Service-Oriented Architecture: Developing the Enterprise Roadmap (What is SOA,and what's involved in adopting it?)
• Building the Business Case for Service Oriented Architecture Investment (What are the tangible business benefits of adopting SOA?)
• Enterprise Architects: Sowing the Seeds of SOA Success (Getting a grasp of the current state of affairs)
• Application Rationalization: Burning Fat and Building Muscle (Analyzing the current application portfolio and identifying potential projects)
• Business Process Modeling: Adding Value or Overhead? (Analyzing current business processes and identifying potential projects)
• VantagePoint 2006-2007: Back to Basics (Understanding how SOA adoption impacts the SDLC process)
• VantagePoint 2005-2006 SOA Reality Check (Understanding the impediments to SOA adoption)
• The Advent of the Network Platform: Web Services Move into the IT Fabric (Basic education about standards that support SOA adoption)
• Turning the Network Into the Computer: The Emerging Network Application Platform (High-level perspective of the goal end-state)
• Data Modeling: Not Just for Databases Anymore (Understanding the importance of data modeling in SOA adoption)
• A Single Source of Truth: Creating and Sustaining Data Integration Governance and Stewardship (Understanding the importance of data quality in SOA)
• Orchestrating Web Services: Driving Distributed Process Execution Through Workflow Technology (Understanding the role of orchestration in SOA)
• Telebriefings
  • Application Platforms Strategies Vantage Point 2005-2006: Application Architecture in Transition
  • Presenting the Business Case for Service Oriented Architecture
  • VantagePoint 2006-2007: Back to Basics
  • Business Process Modeling: Adding Value or Overhead?
  • Application Rationalization: Burning Fat and Building Muscle
• Inflection Points
  • Software Development --- Back to Basics
• Take 5
  • Less is More

Design – Construct – Diagram SOA is a strategic initiative to gain a competitive advantage by exploiting the power of IT. If executed properly, SOA increases the adaptability of IT systems, enabling IT to respond more quickly to changing business requirements. It also enables faster integration of business processes---both internally and with customers, partners, and suppliers.

The core unit of design in SOA is a shared, reusable service that implements a discrete piece of business functionality. The service exposes its functionality through a well-defined interface. Any application that requires the functionality uses the service. A single service may be used in the construction of multiple composite applications.

The documents included in Stage 2 provide the architectural "stake in the ground" assessments related to topics enterprises should consider when designing a SOA infrastructure.

Documents

• Reference Architecture Technical Positions
  • Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) Infrastructure
  • Application Platform Foundations
  • Application Factoring
  • Data Management in SOA
• Reference Architecture Templates
  • Service Oriented Architecture Templates
  • Managed Communications Infrastructure
  • Infrastructure Services Model
  • SOA Governance Infrastructure Template
• Developing a Web Services Security Strategy
• Scaling and Accelerating Web Services: The Roadmap to High Performance
• Telebriefings
  • SOA Governance: Policies, Processes, Metrics, and Organization

Assess – Evaluate – Compare SOA is a strategic initiative to gain a competitive advantage by exploiting the power of IT. If executed properly, SOA increases the adaptability of IT systems, enabling IT to respond more quickly to changing business requirements. It also enables faster integration of business processes---both internally and with customers, partners, and suppliers.

The core unit of design in SOA is a shared, reusable service that implements a discrete piece of business functionality. The service exposes its functionality through a well-defined interface. Any application that requires the functionality uses the service. A single service may be used in the construction of multiple composite applications.

The documents included in Stage 3 provide reports that detail specific technologies for use in the construction of SOA infrastructure. Note, however that SOA is not a thing. It cannot be purchased and installed. Despite the promises of many vendors, there is no SOA-in-a-box. A successful SOA infrastructure is the right-sized implementation of multiple products and standards working in different layers of the architecture. These are combined with well-tuned development methodologies and governance structures.

Documents

• Web Services Registry: The Foundation for SOA Governance (soon to be replaced by a subthread of documents)
• Web Services Management
  • Technology and Standards: Web Services Management
  • Market Landscape: Web Services Management: Townsman of a Stiller Town
  • Product Profile: SOA Software's Service Manager 3.1
  • Product Profile: Progress Software's Actional 6.0
• Web Services Security: A Plethora of Products
• Web Services Framework Standards
• Web Services Platforms
  • The Microsoft Superplatform: Setting the Bar in the Superplatform Arms Race
  • SAP NetWeaver: Potential Wildcard in the Superplatforms Arms Race
  • The Java Superplatforms: Comparing IBM, Oracle, and BEA
  • Selecting a Java Web Services Platform: An Evaluation Framework
  • The JBoss Enterprise Middleware Suite
  • Enterprise Service Bus: EAI in Transition
  • Integration Brokers: Providing the Middleware Fabric for Complex Integration
• Telebriefings
  • The Advent of the Superplatforms
  • Developing a Web Services Security Strategy
  • ESBs, WSMs, and XMLGs, Oh My!: Making Sense of SOA Mediation Systems
• Inflection Points
  • Web Services Management
  • WS-Convergence
  • JEE5: The Beginning of the End of Java EE