What is SOA?

I have encountered a number of debates across various fora, the latest dealing with "WOA" vs. "SOA".

It is fair to say that in the wider IT community, never mind the business, many are confused by all the different acronyms, conference topics and marketing initiatives that are around. In the USA at least, it seems to have reached the stage where "Companies hire SOA consultants, sue SOA consultants for being over-priced and over-promised, and now both companies have to hire SOA consultants to define SOA in court..."

A blog post from Paul Wallis of Stoma Software struck me in this respect, as it covered the basic concepts of SOA quite well: http://www.keystonesandrivets.com/kar/2008/04/understanding-s.html. Paul explains simply how SOA works, how it can be used and, with the use of a real-world example, describes why a properly planned and implemented Service Oriented Architecture can create a flexible way of aligning business and IT.

Comments

[unmanned]

Service Oriented Architecture is a great way to create a flexible way of aligning business and IT and is sure to be a huge money maker for companies that can do it right for there clients.

[Paul Wallis]

Charlton,

Thanks for the reference to my blog article.
Pleased it was well received.

PJW