Service Oriented Architecture Field Guide for Executives

Part ONE: WHAT IS SOA AND WHY SHOULD I CARE?

If you haven't heard about service oriented architecture (SOA), then you have likely been living under a rock for the past several years (it is also very unlikely that you would purchase a book on the topic). There is a tremendous degree of hype, FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt), and misinformation floating around regarding SOA, service orientation in general, and what it really means for modern enterprises. This first part of the book is aimed at cutting through all of this and providing a solid foundation in SOA, its huge potential, and its inherent risks.

Chapter 1, "SOA Primer," introduces and defines SOA, explains what it means to be service oriented, and describes how we evolved to this point. The chapter introduces the typical architectural layers that comprise an SOA enterprise solution and the key SOA infrastructure elements that are commonly found.

Chapter 2, "Business Process Management and SOA," introduces and defines business process management (BPM), explains what it means to be process-centric, and describes how all of this relates to SOA. Alignment between IT and business through BPM is examined, along with the relationship between objects, services, and processes. Finally, process modeling is explored in great detail.

Chapter 3, "SOA Value Proposition," identifies the four core SOA value propositions (reduced integration expense, increased asset reuse, business agility, reduced risk) as well as several emerging values ...