Service-Oriented Architecture - Essay Example

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) College: Introduction Service-oriented architecture refers (SOA) to a fundamental structure, that enables easy communications between various services. Two or more different computing entities such as programs are able to interact and give room for one entity to carry out tasks on behalf of the other entity because of SOA. In SOA, service interactions are explained using description language with each interaction being loosely coupled and self-contained in order to ensure that all interactions are independent of one another. Therefore, service-oriented architecture is an approach that asserts the intention to build software assets in an organization in order to improve the organization efficiency in meeting its needs (Marks, 2013, p.98). In this context, the term service refers to a unit of functionality that is self-contained like doing and online shopping or a retrieval of a bank statement in the internet. It is as a result of SOA that computer that are interconnected in an organization are able to cooperate, with adoption of the SOA rapidly gaining some popularity in the modern world especially in the large businesses and centralized organizations. Service-oriented architecture creates a situation whereby every computer in the network can perform indiscriminate number of services while still capable of exchanging different information in an easy way. Exchange of information between the various computers that are interconnected is made possible without any need for human interaction or change in the primary program .Application of SOA is associated with numerous advantages that make it appear like it is the dominant form of enterprise architecture in the modern world. One of this key advantage that has made the system become popular is the ability of the system to allow continuous use and easy-sharing of data between various programs vendors without necessarily having to buy an additional program or make changes to the services. Moreover, in most cases the services provided by the system are reusable, a factor that lowers the total cost in terms of the development and maintenance cost, while at the same time providing much value after the development and testing of the service. However, SOA is not likely to make any difference or be beneficial to a business organization especially if the organization adopting is small (does not have two or more primary systems that require a degree of integration), or the organization is large but is far much decentralized. Despite the above-mentioned benefits of using SOA in an organization, there seems to be hype or an exaggeration since the development methodology itself does not offer much benefits to business organizations. The only benefit accrued from the system is the effects the system has on complex and redundant infrastructure. Many architects believe that the current service oriented architecture has a lot that need to be improved since it is only being used while integrated with traditional applications in most of the organizations. This ends up making the methodology used not being of any benefit to the business organizations its being used (Buelow, 2009, p.50). Therefore, facts show that SOA is not yet the dominant form of business architecture in the modern world though there exists a lot of exaggeration about the system. The most obvious advantages of SOA under the aspect of development include the element of software reusability, productivity increase, and increased agility. However, there is no assurance on this element of reusability since carried out studies show that only 10% to 40% of all the services are reusable (Buelow, 2009, p.63). The aspect o reusability is only available if the developers in the other sections of the company are aware of the presence of such services and are assured that the services are well built. The organization must also have a uniform development methodology in its all parts. In order for an organization to get a reuse, it is very essential that it first develop favorable mechanisms like having a centralized development team, use only one development methodology, as well as have single service repositories. If the service had not been designed properly from the initial stages, its chances of becoming reusable are dimmed. Developers have to consider the size of the service while designing since poor sizing can lead to a dramatic reduction in chances of reusability (Juric and Pant, 2008, p.53). Another major benefit or impact that the system has introduced in the industry is the element of incredible increase in productivity. However, the level of productivity of system significantly relies on whether the services are reusable or not. If the services are reusable, it means that the development team can easily work on more projects since the software projects are able to move faster. The whole process of integration becomes cheaper by roughly 30% and is accomplished within a short time since there is no need for a point-to-point integration. Increase in agility is another benefit of the system development that cannot be overlooked. It means that the services can be of value by making IT systems much easier to modify even if they might not be reusable (IFIP Conference on E-Business, E-Services and Yasunobu, 2008, p.109). On the other hand, there exist numerous positive impacts of using a SOA strategy. Good alignment with the organization is among the major benefits that the SOA has made in the industry. Some architects argue that SOA is one of the elements that companies must have in its all business processes and flows of the business entity (Pathak, 2011, p.42). This aspect gives room for business owners to easily visualize how their business organizations are built technologically. This is achieved as a result of putting IT projects in terms of business processes and activities rather than in the usual complex methods that involve use of software applications. There is still much potential that is not exploited since architects prospects that the system give room for the business owners to modify, mix and match different services into completely new process combination on their own. Moreover, the strategy is said to be a better way of selling architecture to businesses and the IT in general. Initially before the introduction of the system, enterprise architecture had been an expensive and challenging undertaking with its ROI being opaque to the organization (Krafzig, Banke and Slama, 2005, p.36). This means that SOA provides value to the organization it is being applied, a value that the traditional enterprise architecture could not provide. All these benefits attribute to the adoption of SOA in most businesses even though it is important to note that enterprise architecture is not for every organization. Highly decentralized business organizations and small enterprises may not capable of validating the centralized staffs like project managers developers and architects. In conclusion, SOA is a fundamental structure that gives room for communication between various services. The system has gained some popularity especially because of the numerous benefits that business organizations enjoy as a result of applying the system. The structure creates a situation whereby computers that are interconnected can perform different tasks and exchange information without any need for human interference or change in the original program. Other benefits that seem to make the system popular in the modern world is the element of increase in productivity, reusability, agility among others. With the various benefits associated with the use of the structure, adoption of the SOA in business organizations sounds like a prudent idea that large business organizations should not hesitate to adopt. However, there exists some exaggeration about the capability of this system. Moreover, the system can only be used by large business organizations that are centralized . Bibliography IFIP Conference on E-Business, E-Services & Yasunobu, C. 2008. Towards sustainable society on ubiquitous networks: The 8th IFIP Conference on e-Business, e-Services, and e- Society (I3E 2008), September 24-16, 2008, Tokyo, Japan. Springer. New York, NY. Marks, E. A. 2013. Service-oriented architecture: Soa governance for the services driven enterprise. Wiley. Hoboken, N.J. Buelow, H. 2009. Getting started with Oracle SOA Suite 11g R1: A hands-on tutorial : fast track your SOA adoption : build a service-oriented composite application in just hours!. Packt Pub. Birmingham, U.K. Juric, M. B., & Pant, K. 2008. Business process driven SOA using BPMN and BPEL: From business process modeling to orchestration and service oriented architecture. Packt Pub. Birmingham, U.K. Pathak, N. 2011. Pro WCF 4: Practical Microsoft SOA implementation. Apress. New York, NY. Krafzig, D., Banke, K., & Slama, D. 2005. Enterprise SOA: Service-oriented architecture best practices ; [IT strategy, agility, IT renovation roadmap, SOA definition, business organization, project management, service bus, IT organization, architecture]. Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Read More