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.
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?
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.
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.
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?
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!
