SOA - Web Services - BPEL

How It Interacts with Existing

Architecture

Matt Busch
Sr. System Engineer

mbusch@appworx.com

AppWorx Corporation
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Welcome!

Please turn off your cell phone/pager

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Agenda

• What Is SOA?

• Why SOA?

• Top Issues For SOA.

• How To Overcome!

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What Is SOA?

Oracle Says:
“… facilitates the development of modular business services that can be easily
integrated and reused—creating a truly flexible, adaptable IT infrastructure. With an
SOA approach, your IT organization will focus more resources and budget on
innovation and on delivering new business services.”

Gartner Says:
“a style of multi-tier computing that helps organizations share logic and data among
multiple applications and usage modes."

IBM Says:
“an application architecture within which all functions are defined as independent
services with well-defined invokable interfaces which can be called in defined
sequences to form business processes"

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Ok…. So What Is It Really?

• SOA is the exposure of business functions as services for integration

and orchestration into new and interesting applications.

• SOA is built on reusable, shared, networked services where each

service is a well defined business function.

• SOA is NOT a technology though we implement it through technology.

• Most commonly implemented thru Web Services.

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Characteristics of SOA

• Self-Describing Interfaces In Platform-Independent XML Documents.

– Web Services Description Language (WSDL)

• Messages Formally Defined Via XML Schema (also called XSD).

– Heterogeneous environments.
– Often viewed as key business processes.

• Maintained In Enterprise Registry (Directory Listing)

– Applications can look up the services in the registry and invoke the service.
– Universal Description, Definition, and Integration (UDDI)

• Has A Quality Of Service (QoS)

– Security requirements.
– Reliable messaging.
– Policies regarding invocation.

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Current Application Landscape

Application

User Interface

Business Logic API

Data

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SOA Architecture

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Why SOA?

“A business process spans multiple people, departments,

applications & servers.”

“ How do you provide overall visibility management & control?”

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Application Integration

• Complex:
– When systems change, interfaces need to be rebuilt.

• Brittle:
– When interfaces fail, people are unhappy (and often blame
the wrong people). Monitoring via Help Desk.

• Expensive:
– Gartner - “up to 50% of large enterprise’s IT budget is
spent on interfaces and integration.”

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Integration Complexity

App 1 App 2

n(n-1) App 3 App 4

App 5
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Data vs. Service

Banking System Finance System

Conversion Conversion
Rates Rates

Banking System Finance System

USD to GBP?
ConvRate
Service .5295

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SOA Benefits

• Reduce Development Time and Cost

– SOA services are easily reused.
– Can be rapidly assembled into new/composite applications.
• Lower Maintenance Costs
– Reusable services.
– Reduce the number and internal complexity of IT services.
• Higher Quality Services
• Lower Integration Costs
– Standardized services.
– Quickly and easily connect.
• Reduce Risk
– Fewer, reusable services provide greater control.
– Reduce the overall compliance risk.
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Common SOA Challenges

• Visibility Over Entire Business Process

• Lack of Control
• The Care & Feeding of Critical Processes
– Finance Period Close
– Payroll
– Invoicing
• Sending Accurate Information to Partners
• Potential Performance Bottlenecks
• Business/IT Alignment

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Common SOA Challenges

• Failure to Detect Errors

• Delayed Error Notification
• Delayed Response Between Departments
• Integration of Legacy Applications
• Data Corruption
• Bottlenecks During Heavy Periods
• Coordination of Requests Beyond Core Application
• Missing Service Level Agreements
• Number of Steps Required to Complete Task
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SOA Issue #1

Fragmentation of Application Logic

• Applications Are Perceived As a Single, Integrated, Manageable Entity.

• Web-Derived Architectural Styles Fragment Logic to an Extreme Degree.
• Application Management Systems Responsible For:
– Ensuring service quality.
– Maintaining corporate image.
– Highly fragmented application as a whole.

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 SOA Issue #2

Blurring Lines

• Distinction Between App Service and Infrastructure Service Weakens

• Services Will Be:
– Infrastructure ( service that ensures optimal route across IP network)
– Application ( service that reports credit check)
– In-Between ( service that adjusts bandwidth because of privileged user)
– “Applisturcture” (dynamic SQL query formulation service)

• Contrast With Current Architecture:

– Sequence the execution of functions.
– Following integrated control flow.
– Business process strictly defined.

• SOA Dictated By Business Process Descriptions

• Distinctions of IT Skills, Processes, Tools and Org Structure Breaks Down
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SOA Issue #3

Multiple/Inconsistent Ways of Implementing SOA

• "SOA" Means Different Things To Different People

– Web services
– Web-oriented architectures (WOAs)
– REST
– Ajax

• Management System Architecture Not Optimal For All

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SOA Issue #4

A Decrease In Overall Manageability

• SOA Less Manageable

• Manageability Of SOA a Function How To:
– Discover/monitor components.
– Diagnose application's overall behavioral pathology.
– Suggest or execute a course of actions.
• All Four of the SOA Styles:
– Increase the number of “moving parts" .
– Allow fluid linking of parts.
– More problematic on all layers.

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Blending Legacy Environments

• Design Is Key
– Identify mission critical processes.
– Formalized relationships a must (internal and external partners).
– Clearly identified service level agreements.
• Tool Selection
– Must have evocable services
– Must monitor and manage at all levels:
• Operating System
• Data Base
• Application
– Event Management

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What Happens When SOA Breaks?

Application Design Is Key:

• Business Relationship Must Be In Place
• Business Process Model Relationship

Diagnostics:
• Don't Assume “Fixes” Need Technical Solutions
• Verify Business Relationships In Place
• When Standardized Methods Fail:
– Determine the form and state of the current relationship.
– Evaluate the design standards of the interaction.

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How to Overcome

SOA Will Have to Adopt a Holistic 3D Approach

• Capture the Holistic Symptoms
• Understand Structural Relationships Among Components
• Monitor Flow of Transactions/Messages across Components.

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Questions?

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