Search

Focuses on the efforts of different enterprises in the U.S. to implement a Web service- oriented architecture (SOA). SOA vision; Tools to help developers design and build service-oriented architectures; Security protocols required by service-oriented architectures. INSET: Six Tips for SOA Design.

The article reports that International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) introduced WebSphere software and services in the U.S. in April 2006 that are aimed to overcome barriers to the success of services-oriented architecture (SOA). According to IBM senior vice president and software group executive Steve Mills, such WebSphere releases will refocus the company for a world that is more process-led than technology-led. IBM unveiled eleven new products, twenty product enhancements, and eight service enhancements that are all focused on SOA process integration.

The article looks at how Merrill Lynch implemented Service-Oriented Legacy Architecture, a Web services initiative that reduced their information technology overhead since 2000. The objective of the project, which was headed by the company's vice president Jim Crew, was to build applications that leveraged not just the data but also the applications on the mainframe. Thus, Crew and his team used X4ML and made it part of Merrill Lynch's service-oriented architecture. Since then, the team has helped create Web services using a collection of Internet technologies like XML and SOAP to make operations available to programmers. The programmers then can create new applications in modern environments including Java from Sun Microsystems.