SOA and Web Services
Q. Why is Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) so commonly closely associated with Web services?
A. SOA is based on a systems environment specifically architected to leverage freestanding units of functional code, each of which corresponds to a specific activity within an IT landscape or a business process. An IT service in this respect is a self-describing software component that is accessible over a network and has a published interface that does not require knowledge of the technology used to create and deploy it.
Although SOA can be implemented without the use of Web services, Web services should be seen as the primary enabler for this architecture. SOA should be differentiated from the use of Web services as purely a convenient means of making components interoperate where the components are not deliberately architected to support a specific business process.
Sandra Rogers, IDC
IDC is a premier global market intelligence and advisory firm in the information technology and telecommunications industries. For more information, see its April 2004 study (number 31079) titled:
"Worldwide Web Services Software 2004-2008 Forecast: Cautious Adoption Continues."
www.idc.com
Defining Web Services
Q. If SOA is typically said to be based on Web services, how are Web services different from, for instance, making information available through Web sites, or doing business through a Web e-commerce site?
A. Web services do not necessarily exist on the Web--they can function on an intranet inside a firewall, for instance. However, what specifically defines than is that they use an inter-locking set of Web-based protocols and standards, so that universally-available Web tools can be used to implement and use them.
Web services have been commonly defined as a standardized way of integrating applications using the Extensible Markup Language (XML), the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), the Web Services Definition Language (WSDL), and the Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) standards. XML is used to tag the data, SOAP is used to transfer the data, WSDL is used for describing the services available; and UDDI is used to list what services are available.
Eric Austvold, Tom Whiteford, and David O'Brien, AMR Research
AMR Research is an independent research analyst firm. For more information, see its June 2004 report:
"Web Services 2004: Overhyped and Unlikely To Transform Business Anytime Soon."
www.amrresearch.com
Readiness of Web Services Technology
A. Is Web services technology mature enough to start basing mission-critical SOA projects on it?
Q. Currently, technology maturity is adequate for projects inside the enterprise firewall, and moderate for projects outside the firewall. It will take until about 2006 or 2007 for technology to mature to allow self-describing autonomous Web services. The sectors that have seen the most activity to date have included finance, telecommunications, government, manufacturing, and retail, although adoption spans multiple industries.
By 2020 nearly all large North American enterprises will have adopted Web services in some capacity. There were approximately 25,000 trained consultants and system integrators with Web services expertise in North America at the end of 2003, and about 40,000 worldwide.
Sandra Rogers, IDC
IDC is a premier global market intelligence and advisory firm in the information technology and telecommunications industries. For more information, see its April 2004 study (number 31079) titled:
"Worldwide Web Services Software 2004-2008 Forecast: Cautious Adoption Continues."
www.idc.com
Future of Integrators
Q. How will the advent of SOA affect integration vendors?
A. The increasing commoditization of integration functions brought on by greater maturity of new Web-services standards will drive product commoditization up the integration technology stack. This will eventually decrease the popularity of proprietary enterprise application integration solutions.
Vendors are responding in various ways, including by supporting standards-based SOA with their core offerings. In any case, expect consolidation as there are simply too many vendors for the level of demand, especially in the face of continuing standards-setting efforts.
Ken Vollmer and Mike Gilpin, Forrester Research
Forrester Research is an independent technology research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking advice about technology's impact on business. For more information, see its July 6, 2004 report titled:
"Integration In A Service-Oriented World."
www.forrester.com
SOA and Software Vendors
Q. What impact will the advent of SOA have on software vendors?
A. The explosion of service-oriented business applications, and the lucrative business of weaving them into an enterprise's IT architecture, will drive software vendors toward the same business on which systems integrator rely. By 2007, IT professional services will account for more than 50% of the revenue of large enterprise application software vendors, creating a convergence of the software and IT professional service markets.
Also, since SOA reduces the amount of code and therefore labor, application outsourcing will turn from a person-driven business to a design business.
Whit Andrews, Gartner Inc.
Gartner, Inc. is the leading provider of research and analysis on the global information technology industry. For more information, see its April 14, 2004 report titled:
"SOA Has Impact on Application Development Outsourcing."
www.gartner.com