Service Infrastructure Value: Making SOA Easier

Service-Oriented Architecture seems like a simple idea. Produce a bunch of services, publish them through some type of service infrastructure for governance, and then consuming these services will realize the obvious benefits of SOA. It seems pretty straightforward. There are lots of articles out there that tell you how to build shared services utilizing various protocols such as WebServices, REST, etc. There are many technologies you can use to consume this newly created plethora of shared services. The important part is that the service protocols are interoperable. As for the service infrastructure, there seems to be no end to the catalog of enterprise-class software products you can buy that will provide you all the services governance you could possibly need. At least this is the promise. The reality is that there are various road bumps along the road to SOA nirvana. Certainly there are some technological gaps in the whole SOA story; but those gaps will be filled and the technology will work. What problems I’m talking about are a bit squishier. There are business, organizational, political and financial issues that need to be addressed.

Here’s the idea: shared services are published via a service broker via one or more interoperable interfaces that will be connected to and invoked by some consumer. There are some practical issues that surround this. The practical issues that I would like to focus on in the next several posts include what I call the “friction” involved in consuming or producing services through a shared services infrastructure. And the ideas here are more targeted toward those that are contemplating standing up a central service infrastructure or brokering services within your organization. Remember that simply because you have a service infrastructure, it doesn’t mean that service consumers and producers will come flocking. There is a level of responsibility with the service infrastructure provider that can significantly reduce the “friction” involved in getting producers and consumers to come together. As it turns out, it’s not quite as natural as you might think.