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A service-oriented architecture is essentially a
collection of services. These services communicate with each
other. The communication can involve either simple data
passing or it could involve two or more services coordinating
some activity. Some means of connecting services to each
other is needed. Service-oriented architectures are not a
new thing. The first service-oriented architecture for
many people in the past was with the use DCOM or Object
Request Brokers (ORBs) based on the CORBA specification.
May times when people here about SOA they immediately
jump to the conclusion that Web Services must be used.
The term "Web Services" can be confusing. It is,
unfortunately, often used in many different ways. The term
Web Services refers to the technologies that allow for
making connections. Services are what you connect together
using Web Services. A service is the endpoint of a
connection. Also, a service has some type of underlying
computer system that supports the connection offered.
The combination of services - internal and external to
an organization - make up a service-oriented architecture.
It's would be easy to conclude that the move to Service
Orientation really commenced with Web services. However,
Web services were merely a step along a much longer
road. The notion of a service is an integral part of
component thinking, and it is clear that distributed
architectures were early attempts to implement service-oriented
architecture. What's important to recognize is that Web
services are part of the wider picture that is SOA. The
Web service is the programmatic interface to a capability
that is in conformance with WSnn protocols. So Web
services provide us with certain architectural
characteristics and benefits—specifically platform
independence, loose coupling, self description, and
discovery—and they can enable a formal separation between
the provider and consumer because of the formality of the
interface.
NuSoft Solutions recognizes a key consideration with Web
services is when to utilize them. Not all applications can
be, or should be surfaced as a Web Service. If you know
that Web services will be a strategic part of your enterprise,
then you need to start somewhere. A single application
project, for instance, provides a low-risk opportunity
for taking that first step. You will be able to integrate Web
services to a limited extent and in a controlled manner.
Additional reasons to consider Web services include:
- Use of Web services does not require an entirely new application architecture. Their loosely coupled design allows you to add a small amount of simple services, without much impact on the rest of the application.
- The global IT industry is embracing and supporting Web services. By incorporating them sooner, your team will gain an understanding of an important platform shift that affects application architecture and technology.
- If you are considering or already using a service-oriented design you definitely will need to take a serious look at Web services. The benefits of incorporating service-oriented paradigms within your enterprise can motivate the technical migration to a Web services framework.
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NuSoft Solutions understands service. They understand that the customer's needs are the most important. They listen to what we are looking for and they come up with solutions that fit our budget and business. Then they partner with us to get the job done.
- Right Management Consultants
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