Useful SOA Bookshelf
My Professional Library is speaking out! A listing of print resources new and old, they made it to my top shelf. Some have dropped off the list and new ones added, but all together, this compilation should prove to be very valuable to those of you who still read. However, I don’t believe the Kindle will be of much help with these reference materials – get the real thing. My hope is to one day, provide some short reviews on each with my personal SOA flare, but for now – trust me or lean on Amazon.
Useful SOA Web Resources
Are you tangled in the web? Having trouble finding quality places to visit to inform you about SOA, integration, and IT in general? Lost in the Google paginator? Here is my list (updated regularly) of popular sites, blogs, groups and other things is check out on the web. Please comment me on places I left out.
SOA is Turning Things Upside Down
Enterprise Architecture Frameworks teach us about layers. With the introduction of SOA, should we revisit what we learned? In my recent post about “Layers” and “Patterns”, I was trying to argue the importance of “Services” and their role (as not the only player) in an SOA. With that said, I am being reminded of a diagram I used to see describing Enterprise Architecture Frameworks by decomposing an organization into “Layers”.
Missing the “OH” in your SOA
Pattern-Oriented development is paramount in IT. Patterns are used for designing software [POSA], integrating applications [EIP] or building enterprise systems [PEAA]. They make us feel comfortable that are our solution in the end will be extensible, reusable and hopefully along the way we managed avoiding some age-old pitfalls.
Executive SOA Value – Real Time Data Access
Does your integration solution provide value or cause problems? This question obviously presumes your business has some type of “solution” to integration, and it does. Every system of information technologies from stand-alone applications to document management to enterprise provisioning must solve the “connectivity” problem. This may be simple emails, multiple database interfaces, full blown EAI or just person-to-person interaction – the concept is the same: you must be able to communicate data. So does your implementation of integration solve the problems facing your business? How about problems other than purely connectivity? Or is integration another hurdle stopping you from the next enhancement or even worse, costing your business dollars due to poorly designed interactions?
Making SOA Happen
Is an integration project merely a matter of connectivity – making n-number of applications transfer data? By this logic the project’s success is binary: it connected the systems or it did not. Anyone involved in systems integration at any level understands that what it means to be “connected”, itself, quickly becomes an abstract term with multiple meanings. Enter in SOA and most have no clue what the goal is.
The Integration Horizontal – Spanning the Business
Typically we envision software, and the solutions they flaunt, to satisfy a specific need in a niche within the enterprise. From marketing and sales to IT, from operations to quality assurance, each has its own problems. Therefore its own unique solution and technology is quick to run with open arms offering promises to all. SOA is not a traditional IT application with a singular focused value proposition nor is it this ever-transforming magical black box that is always the solution to any business problem.
A ROI Case for Selecting SOA
In a very real sense, SOA should be evaluated for its benefit with the same criteria as traditional IT software selections. If SOA is to solve problems, and not create them, then the question is simple:
How will a Return on Investment be realized?
About Shawn P. Simon
Shawn has been exploring enterprise integration technology for the past decade with pioneering clients such as XM Satellite Radio, Southern California Edison, Laureate Education, National Education Association, Volkswagen and Disney.
Emphasizing on emerging technologies while leaning on experience in EAI, B2B and BPM, Shawn aims to standardize and evangelize the Service Oriented Architecture “way” of integration.
ShawnP’s Integration Blog
Shawn P. Simon is speaking out. And Simon says “SOA”! Having developed, designed, debated and delivered dozens of integration landscapes, ShawnP believes in SOA. Whether you define it as standardizing the standards, re-marketing the old buzz (MOM/EAI/BPM), or a transformational technology approach to business agility – ShawnP sees the SOA “light”. This blog is about demystifying the confusion, making the proposition plain, and maybe even discovering new angles to look at SOA (as in its role in Enterprise Architecture). IT integration is everywhere and necessary – SOA and whatever new name we give it next – is here to stay!
