SOA (Service Oriented Architectures) is an integration method that makes it possible to reuse and combine business applications into various processes. This new way of designing IT systems in a more flexible way facilitates the support by companies of new market challenges.
Before developing a specific expertise in SOA, SmartWave consultants have started to move to this technology by exposing documentary or identity management functions as services.
As an Oracle partner, SmartWave consultants implement technologies from the Oracle SOA Suite and also from ex BEA offers, and they integrate information flows from several applications.
SOA Architectures Basics
A Service Oriented Architecture is a mediation architecture that implements services as software components. The strong internal cohesion required is provided by using XML as internal format. External couplings are "loose" and implemented as an interoperable interface layer, usually a web service. Infrastructure and support elements are also designed and operated as services. They include security services to support identity and rights management, access services for employees, clients and partners, and also services that deal with backup control, service quality appraisal, and availability.
BPEL plays an important role in SOA, as it makes it possible to express and implement business logic at the abstraction level that provides required services for integration tasks. The ESB is responsible for the routing of messages to existing systems.
A Service Oriented Architecture can deliver the following benefits:
Better flexibility as modularity of design can increase functionality by editing or adding a service
Possibility to reuse components (scale savings)
Better reliability (less components better tested, reuse of existing components)
Performance improvement capability for large applications (easier to distribute treatments)
Cost reduction during maintenance and for evolutions
BPM
The implementation of SOA architectures requires processes to be modelled correctly. SmartWave contributes to the model design directly or through partners specialised in organisation and process directory design.
SmartWave activities
SmartWave engineers and consultants contribute to technical design and implementation phases of SOA integrations. Typical SmartWave activities include:
Technical audit of system components to be integrated
Definition of technical architectures
Design and development of web services with a top down approach, and definition of WSDL contracts
Development of BPEL modules
Implementation of user interfaces
Deployment of developments
Tests and delivery of integrated applications
Development and deployment of EJBs
Creation of stored procedures and triggers under Oracle
