Cloud Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)

The basic principles of service-oriented architecture are independent of vendors, products and technologies

"So did SOA resolve integration? No. However then once again, no one ever promised you that. As Neil observes, we'll probably never see a 'turnkey enterprise integration solution,' but that's probably an advantage - after all, organizations have various needs, and such an option would need an Orwellian-level of standardization."

The fact of the issue is that SOA and integration are 2 various, but interrelated concepts. SOA is a means of doing architecture, where integration might be a result of that architecture. SOA does not set out to do integration, however it possibly a by-product of SOA. Baffled yet?

Truth-be-told integration is a deliberate technique, not a byproduct. Hence, you have to have an integration strategy and architecture that belongs of your SOA, and not simply a desired outcome.You'll never get there, trust me.

The problem is that there are 2 architectural patterns at play right here.

First, is the goal to externalize both habits and information as sets of services that can be set up and reconfigured into options. That's at the heart of SOA, and the integration typically takes place within the composite applications and procedures that are produced from the services.

Second, is the goal to duplicate info from source to target systems, ensuring that details is shared in between inconsistent applications or total systems, which the semantics are handled. This is the objective of integration, and was at the heart of the architectural pattern of EAI.

Plainly, integration is a purposeful action and thus needs to be dealt with within architecture, including SOA. Thus, SOA won't fix your integration issues; you need to deal with those directly.

service-oriented architecture

Integrating Business on the Cloud is a Challenge

It's a bit curious to me that a lot of firms executing cloud computing are struggling with the principle of integration, a subject that's near and dear to my heart. In addition they are doing this as if integration itself was a new topic.

The issue is one of context, more so than technology when thinking about that we have actually been doing integration well for over 15 years, and therefore it's just a matter of carrying those ideas and technology to the world of the cloud. However, as it was back in the 90s when I composed the EAI book, many firms are approaching cloud integration as if we are starting over. That's a big error.

What's vital to keep in mind about integration, cloud or not, is that it's actually about the complimentary flow of details in between systems that take care of info differently. Therefore, you need to readjust details as it's transferred in between systems, or how each offers with system semantics. For example, in moving information from SAP to ERP at some time you have to handle the various methods that each structures information around the principles of consumer, sales, stock, etc.

Many problems when handling cloud computing may be due to the fact that you might be dealing with systems that are beyond the firewall software, and not under you're direct control. Nonetheless, integrations can be well-defined and simple to make use of interfaces, or APIs, which allow access to core information or services. Certainly, I would consider it a lot easier to link and incorporate existing SaaS and IaaS clouds than traditional enterprise systems.

The core message below is that we need to learn from the past, and do not presume we're beginning from scratch when taking care of cloud computing. The patterns, the innovation, the troubles, and the options are mainly the exact same.

cloud integration