Service-Oriented Architecture
With the widespread emergence of standards-based integration technology such as Web services and extensible markup language, service-oriented architecture (SOA) has become the key to interoperability among disparate processes and pieces of software. The current demand for for SOA is motivating forward-thinking solution providers to design applications specifically for reduced complexity, efficient data sharing, and collaboration throughout the supply chain.
SOA tools are divided into smaller components and then connected to existing systems in order to create more dynamic processes. Regardless of network, platform, or programming language, the technology offers a powerful framework for fast and accurate information transfer. SOA solutions are extremely flexible and provide a high degree of customization and scalability. These features gives customers much more control over their systems and the ability to personalize the solution without altering the original programming.
Operations management professionals using a solution built upon SOA can see three main benefits:
- They enjoy considerable cost savings because the tool only needs to be designed and implemented once and because they can choose which specific pieces they want to include and which they do not need.
- Existing resources become much more efficient, as SOA products integrate well with even legacy systems.
- Upgrades are typically fast and easy to accomplish.
SOA technology provides a clear and easy-to-use interface and highly automated processes. Thus, the tool quickly establishes a single source for key information among all users and operations.