April 12, 2006
Service-Oriented Versus It-Does-It-All
There is no doubt that applications are becoming more and more service oriented, that is, loosely coupled, highly interoperable services being joined together to form a unified collection of applications. Service-oriented architecture (SOA) directly contrasts with the old, established architecture of one-thing-does-it-all.
Imagine the following scenario. You need to buy a DVD player and a VCR (to play all those old tapes your wife has). You have two basic options. You can either buy a DVD/VCR combo unit or buy separate components. If you have any experience with home theater, you will know that in most cases, the DVD/VCR combo unit lags far behind the separate components in terms of features and quality. However, the combo unit, because it is only one component, sells for far less. Lesson learned: if you don't have the money and don't care about features and performance, the combo unit is they way to go. However, if you want two high quality components and you have the money to spend, buy the separate components. (The same analogy holds true for home theater receivers and amplifiers, but since less people would have understood that analogy, I selected to go with the DVD and VCR comparison).
Now, let's examine this same scenario for IT services. Your company is looking to deploy a suite of applications to foster collaboration. The suits immediately start knocking on your door, telling you all about their six figures, per-seat license, it-does-it-all collaboration suit. At the same time, you hear voices from your middleware group, urging you to ignore the suits and to deploy independently-developed applications that are built on standards and have a proved track record. The suits promise their product is better for your enterprise because all the products are developed under the same roof and they work well with each other. Little to no configuration is needed because the ties between applications already exist. The middleware group can just point to standards-compliance and easy interoperability. After much schmoozing, free dinners, and promises from the suit-wearing sales drones, you give in, opting to deploy the all-in-one product.
A few months down the road, your collaboration suite is deployed, and all is working well. However, you really want to deploy a new service that isn't included in the collaboration suite. Because you have all your eggs in one basket, you need this new service to integrate with the collaboration suite. You assign the task of investigating the integration. Two weeks later, people get back to you and say that the new service can't integrate with the collaboration suite because the collaboration suite doesn't have a sufficient remote interface. You call up the vendor, asking if they will support your new service. They don't, and they aren't planning on it (they really say the service will be in a future version, but you don't buy that). You slam your first on your desk, irritated you went with the all-in-one solution.
The two scenarios share many characteristics. You want something that does A and B. You can either buy one thing that does both A and B, or separate things to do A and B. The in-one-box solution is simpler and costs less. However, as time goes on and you need to add in support for C, the in-one-box solution doesn't measure up because it is only meant to do A and B. However, the separate components are designed to integrate with other independent components, and you can easily plug in C.
There is one major factor that affects the anology: Open-source software (OSS). With OSS, you can get separate components without the extra cost. You also get the ability to modify the applications to get the functionality you desire. You also get the piece of mind that you know what you are getting. Since the software is free, you can test drive it before making any committments to the suits.
I've diverged a bit from the goal of this entry, which is to explain the benefits of SOA over it-does-it-all. With SOA, you have individual components designed to do A. And A, they do very well. With it-does-it-all, you have products that do A, B, C, and D. However, in most cases, you will find the product originally was designed to do A, and later added support for B, C, and D. With SOA, one product is built specifically for A. The concentration is A, and nothing but A. You realize that many will want A to work with B, C, and D, so you provide a robust interface to A, so that B, C, and D can be made to work with A. It does require a little more effort to make A work with B if they are separate products. However, if one is the best at doing A and another is best at doing B, isn't that better than a combined product that does both A and B to a lesser degree? Sure, A and B come pre-configured, but by doing so, you are sacrificing features and future interoperability. What good is a service if you can't interface with it?
The bottom line: service-oriented architecture features separate components that are loosely coupled and very interoperable. Since components are separate, you often have the opportunity to pick and choose components that perform functionality A, B, and C. That means you can pick something that does A very well, B very well, etc. It may take a little longer to configure these products for your environment, but once done, you will have a solution that can perform A, B, and C better than a all-in-one solution that claims to perform A, B, and C. And a more functional product is what you want to deliver to the end-users.
Trackback
You can ping this entry by using http://blog.case.edu/gps10/mt-tb.cgi/7348 .
Comments
Are you insuinating that the Oracle Collaboration Suite isn't designed following SOA principles? Man, I'm going to report you to the Ron police. He'll be able to show you the Burton Group Papers that disagree with your assessment.
With OSS, you can get separate components without the extra cost.
There are non-OSS systems that can be deployed following "SOA" philosophies.
you need this new service to integrate with the collaboration suite. You assign the task of investigating the integration. Two weeks later, people get back to you and say that the new service can't integrate with the collaboration suite because the collaboration suite doesn't have a sufficient remote interface.
Often times, when engineers conclude that interoperability can't occur between systems X and Y, managers conclude that it is the failings of the engineers and not the systems. Why? Because often times, it's true. The are just as many stupid engineers as there are good ones (50% of engineers are below average ;-) ).
Regardless, your original premise is true – small pieces loosely joined. Unfortunately, that doesn't stop people who misunderstand the original concepts or have alternate agendas from just claiming monolithic systems are "SOA." It's why SOA is no longer descriptive of anything.
Jeremy, I did not say SOA implies OSS. I was trying to show that separate components doesn't necessarily mean higher cost.
blow jobs in pantyhose teen legs in pantyhose
Dear webmaster or site owner, this message is automatically delivered to you from http://www.antispamproject.info/ . If you see this message on your site or in your mailbox, this means that one of the web forms on your site is open for spammers. If you see one of the links below, this means that you are using one of standard type of link treatment and your site becomes the aim for spammers in near future, or it is already. Our goal is to notify you of weak forms before spam robots find your site. There are no advertisements neither in message nor on our site. Go directly to our site, to know more on how to protect your forms. Message id: msgidcj7zn Links: http://www.antispamproject.info/first/ second [url=http://www.antispamproject.info/third/] third [/url]
wife lovers amateur wife photos
free ex wife revenge sites wife anal sex
Dear webmaster or site owner, this message is automatically delivered to you from http://www.antispamproject.info/ . If you see this message on your site or in your mailbox, this means that one of the web forms on your site is open for spammers. If you see one of the links below, this means that you are using one of standard type of link treatment and your site becomes the aim for spammers in near future, or it is already. Our goal is to notify you of weak forms before spam robots find your site. There are no advertisements neither in message nor on our site. Go directly to our site, to know more on how to protect your forms. Message id: msgidpxs8q Links: http://www.antispamproject.info/first/ second [url=http://www.antispamproject.info/third/] third [/url]
Dear webmaster or site owner, this message is automatically delivered to you from http://www.antispamproject.info/ . If you see this message on your site or in your mailbox, this means that one of the web forms on your site is open for spammers. If you see one of the links below, this means that you are using one of standard type of link treatment and your site becomes the aim for spammers in near future, or it is already. Our goal is to notify you of weak forms before spam robots find your site. There are no advertisements neither in message nor on our site. Go directly to our site, to know more on how to protect your forms. Message id: msgidm1pbx Links: http://www.antispamproject.info/first/ second [url=http://www.antispamproject.info/third/] third [/url]
animal sex gallerys farm animal sex free
Microsoft and Peter Jackson postpone the making of a film based on the Halo video game after backers pull out...
agxbuwom dras opiwb lviwy rfugydkwh kyiog nwxy
Hello! We wish to place with you advertising! Our sites:
adolescent article depression
stress fractures foot
stressor
Hi very nice blog
i reed this blog
Well anyway, my girlfriend and I where browsing BME and stumbled upon the pubic [url=peircing.casinogamefactory.com]piercing[/url]. I've never heard of it before and talked it over with my girlfriend about the possible pros and cons. I talked to my local [url=peircings.casinogamefactory.com]piercing[/url] studio to get some more information about it. I compiled quite a bit of facts about it from artists, BE stories, and also the vast abundance of information available on the internet from people around the world. After weighing them out we both decided it would be a pretty good idea and might pose some sexual uses too. Since we are both willing to try just about anything, I decided to do it. Getting this done and talking it over with our mate is a HUGE deal[url=nipple-peircing.eticketsontime.com].[/url] This [url=body-peircings.casinogamefactory.com]piercing[/url] will hinder your love life for a while and might freak some women out[url=body-peircing.kisswings.com].[/url]
Hello, do not click there.
> [url=So many spammers here :(
][/url]
Hello, do not click there.
> [url=So many spammers here :(
][/url]