This article outlines a set of best practices for service-oriented
integration (SOI) by reviewing the evolution of integration practices,
applying those lessons to service-oriented architectures (SOA), and finally
analyzing SOA and SOI with the specific technology set of Web services today
and into the future.
Services and Integration: How Did We Get Here?
The advent of the information age has brought an increased emphasis on timely
access to information. Use of the Internet to reach employees, customers, and
business partners creates corresponding demands to deliver solutions through
different kinds of interfaces in shorter time frames. These compressed time
frames frequently eliminate some traditional options for satisfying new
application requirements, such as migrating to a new, state-of- the-art
packaged application; or creating a custom solution built in isolat... (more)