ThinkingStreet.com

Let us try to demystify the Service Oriented Architectures.

In this, we will consider the insurance quote processing system as an example. Before the [1] advent of SOA, the different business level applications used under different technologies used to communicate with each other via interconnected complex frameworks. With SOA, the discrete functionalities are integrated under the different services as shown. This allows interoperatibility.

Here A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H is several individual business level components. Once SOA is structured, each of these can be culminated together to form a Service as shown.

Shared Service

When Service A and Service B use the discrete component A, they are sharing a service. This allows the reusability of a service.

A change in the functionality of Service A does not affect the functionality of Service B. Hence, they are loosely coupled. Also, they are able to leverage the existing infrastructure to support assembly and integration.

Benefits of SOA

Architecturally, the modern enterprise architecture design will involve:

• Service Oriented
• Event-Driven
• Loosely coupled
• Aligned with life cycle support processes
• Able to support assembly and integration
• Able to leverage existing applications and infrastructure

SOA offer the following advantages over traditional approaches to distributed computing:

• They offer business services across the platforms
• They provide location independence
• Services need not be at a particular system or particular network
• Completely loosely coupled approach
• Authentication and authorization support at every level
• The search and connectivity to other services is dynamic

Short-term benefits of implementation:

• Enhances reliability
• Reduces hardware acquisition costs
• Leverages existing development skills
• Accelerates movement to standards-based server and application consolidation
• Provides a data bridge between incompatible technologies

Long-term benefits of implementation:

• Provides the ability to build composite applications
• Creates a self-healing infrastructure that reduces management costs
• Provides truly real-time decision-making applications
• Enables the compilation of a unified taxonomy of information across an enterprise and its customer and partners

Benefits from the perspective of Business Value

• Ability to more quickly meet customer demands
• Lower costs associated with the acquisition and maintenance of technology
• Management of business functionality closer to the business units
• Leverages existing investments in technology
• Reduces reliance on expensive custom development

ROI Framework of SOA

From the given advantages, the increased profitability network can be mapped as shown. Profitability can be increased in two ways: increase in revenue and decrease in costs. SOA allows new revenues to be created as well as protect the existing revenues by reducing the processing time. Decreases in the costs are maintained by reduced integration and increased reuse.

The cost structure for SOA is as follows. The costs associated for the SOA are mainly implementation, maintenance, operational, enhancement and contingency Costs.

The ROI framework has mainly five steps:

1. Calculating the benefits from the ROI framework- The actual calculations in terms of tangible and non-tangible benefits are done here.
2. Estimating the cost associated- This provides the platform for the expenditures.
3. Computing the initial, simple return- The initial return on the investment is calculated here.
4. Assessing the cost scenario for the subsequent implementations- Subsequent versioning requires the actual assessment of the cost and expenditures.
5. Keeping benefits intact, gauging the returns for the second and subsequent implementations- The subsequent iterations are taken into account in this.

About the Author:

Anirban is currently doing his masters in Information Systems in Carnegie Mellon University. He has an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Allahabad. He has four years of prior work experience in the field of IT, two years in an outsourcing firm Tata Consultancy Services. His interests are varied from Outsourcing to Service Oriented Architectures, and he writes on current IT issues. He can be reached at anirbankar[AT]cmu.edu

Views expressed here belong to the author and do not represent those of the ThinkingStreet or the author’s employer.