Exploring IBM Soa Technology & Practice How to Plan, Build, and Manage a Service Oriented Architecture in the Real World

IBM SOA Insider Shows Path to Business Agility Service oriented architecture (SOA) is a major technology trend focused on making corporate information technology (IT) an enabler of (not an impediment to) business flexibility and innovation. SOA takes individual steps in a business process and implements each of them as a stand alone, reusable "service." These "services" can then be configured and reconfigured to implement flexible business processes. While SOA is not the unique province of any single vendor, IBM has taken a leadership position in the industry and is actively helping organizations in many industries be successful with SOA. IBM is in the enviable position of offering an unmatched breadth of hardware, software, and services necessary to deliver the business agility offered by a SOA implementation. This book is intended for those interested in migrating their existing computing infrastructure in the direction of a Service Oriented Architecture using IBM technology and services. In Exploring IBM SOA Technology & Practice, IBM SOA expert Bobby Woolf explores IBM's vision for success with SOA. Woolf starts by describing reason an organization should consider adopting SOA. Issues and challenges faced once you decide to adopt SOA are described. Guidance is given on how to prepare, select good SOA projects, and how to structure a committee to manage all SOA projects in an organization. Woolf then moves in for a closer look at the nuts and bolts of SOA including the IBM SOA Reference Architecture, the suite of IBM products/services (e.g. IBM WebSphere) used to implement that architecture, and SOA application development practices. Vital topics such as lifecycle management and governance are covered. Throughout the ebook you will find direct links to important videos, Webcasts, white papers, and other SOA resources to help your projects succeed. This book is a key resource for IT professionals and business people who work closely with IT who want to learn how to use SOA to make their corporations more successful and how they can work with IBM to achieve that success. This book will help you: * See if SOA is right for your organization * Identify appropriate SOA project candidates * Understand the challenges that go along with an SOA strategy * See the important role governance plays in successful projects * Understand the IBM SOA Reference Architecture * See how IBM WebSphere works with other products and services to implement SOA * Explore links to video, Webcasts, and other online content that will help you succeed with SOA