SOA 2.0

Concept origins

The acute reader for certain already guessed that in this case was not without well-known IT of the oracle. And it is valid, according to all-knowing Wikipedia, the Oracle company for the first time started talking about SOA 2.0 phenomenon. The industry was to an initiative of Oracle how kindly favorable disposed it is possible to judge by rather widespread interpretation of an acronym of SOA 2.0 – Stupid Oracle Acronym No. 2. Comments, as stated, are excessive. But not all so unambiguously and still break a spear concerning whether there are behind the term SOA 2.0 really essentially new technologies. Experts in the field of SOA were separated into two opposite camps. Reality such is that everyone solves for himself – whether he recognizes the concept of SOA 2.0.

SOA 2.0 as HOA

As it was already mentioned above, the concept of service-oriented architecture is so indistinct that hardly gives in to identification. The situation considerably is aggravated if there is a task to tell about advantages of this architecture to the person far from design of information systems, but owing to the duties, making the decisions which are directly influencing implementation of SOA. In particular, the speech can go about investors, Board of Directors, financial management. It is possible to do rather simple mental experiment. Try to explain yourself in several compressed, specific terms advantages of SOA over other types of architecture of information systems. Very difficult and not obviously, isn't that so? Nevertheless, if it is good to try, then it is possible to outline the main pluses for benefit of SOA. Actually, in this mental experiment one serious dirty trick is. I will allow to make one assumption rather reading at present this article. More than possibly, it is people for whom information technologies – the habitat of professional activity (the assumption is based first of all, on subject of our magazine). In that case, the list of the advantages offered by service-oriented architecture could include the following items:

• cross-platform
• scalability
• performance
• controllability

However the stated above list, certainly, of key advantages of SOA will leave cold heart, say, of the head of financial department, or service of marketing. The user working with a system is not interested as well as why quite so, but not differently it is arranged. The only thing that concerns it - it is convenience of work, visualization and intuitivism of the interface. Until recently when implementing SOA the interests of the end user, to put it mildly, were considered insufficiently. Things are changing and already all who feel like it speak about advantages the client - the focused companies. It was necessary to be rebuilt also the IT industries. The result is HOA (Human Oriented Architecture, the cheloveko-focused architecture). So there was one of interpretations of SOA 2.0 which it is possible is free to characterize as "SOA with a human face".

SOA 2.0 as EDA

One more trigram (do not think nothing bad) an acronym. EDA – Event Driven Architecture, or event-driven architecture. Some experts note such feature of Enterprise 2.0 as close integration with business processes. At the same time SOA purchases flexibility not inherent in the static systems and adaptivity. According to some experts as soon as SOA becomes the organization which is closely tied on business processes, it regenerates in event-driven architecture. However, business process, it, first of all – the subject performing it and an object in relation to which process is directed. So clients, suppliers and staff of the company. Familiarly? Yes, it is already well familiar ideology of Web 2.0. What, actually also allows to deliver equality sign between SOA 2.0 and EDA.

Let's consider key features event - the focused architecture. In the context of EDA the event is any change in a system. For example, when someone buys the car, its status changes with "is on sale" on "is sold". The information system of the car dealer should react as appropriate to this event, it is correct it having identified, having registered and having processed. Event - the focused architecture includes three basic components – the event generator, the processor of an event and the manager of events. The manager of events registers all events arising in a system, as appropriate identifies and transfers to the event handler. If the required processor, for any reasons, is not available, an event depending on specific implementation, or is put in queue, or given to other processor. Thanks to such scheme a system becomes the most flexible and sympathetic information environment on changes – at emergence of essentially new event to connect the new processor enough, without mentioning a system core. The similar systems usually are under construction on the triggers reacting to certain events and the initializing relevant web services. For event handling and initialization of web services three strategy can be used: simple, stream and complex. Simple processing (Simple Event Processing) consists in initialization of web services in process of registration of the corresponding events. Main advantage of such system is real-time operation. Minus is obvious – the prioritizing factor is not considered. Stream processing (Event Stream Processing) considers the existing dependences of web services and integrates several services in one general flow. This approach is repaid in systems with big overhead costs of search and information extraction from the database. And, at last, complex processing (Complex Event Processing) is a so-called management by exception. Any event is regarded as an output of an information system from equilibrium state. Initialization of web services pursues the only aim – to return a system to equilibrium state (between times satisfying system customer needs).

SOA in a projection to Web 2.0

One of the distinguishers allowing to draw, according to some experts, an accurate distinction between SOA and SOA 2.0, this use of sound client web applications (Rich Internet Applications, RIA). Such type of client applications is not contrary to a trend of gradual transformation of the web browser into the element, most important after the operating system, at all, their environment of execution is still the web browser. The freshest confirmation of such reorientation - Flex technology from Adobe and Silverlight technology from Microsoft. Silverlight 2 announced within the stock "Platform 2008", is accurately positioned by the producer as the instrument of creation of Enterprise RIA (portals, the systems of telebanking, etc.). If to try to systematize the available solutions, the corresponding concepts of SOA 2.0, having found in them the general same elements, then, just use of AJAX for the organization of the interface between a client part and web service will be one of such elements. Actually, AJAX plays a role of the last mile, delivering business logic of Enterprise of the annex to a client system. Points of entry of end users were always a weak point of a service-oriented system owing to the heterogeneity by a set of parameters. AJAX allows to remove this barrier between SOA and a desktop of the user of a system. And it, in turn, introduces high-quality changes in architecture. Therefore, use of AJAX technology can be ranked as those factors which promote transformation of SOA into SOA 2.0.

See Also

SOA