Proposed abstract for SOA composability symposium

[Francis McCabe <frankmccabe@mac.com>]

Service Oriented Architecture -- A paradigm and context for composable  
systems

SOA is an architectural paradigm that is driven by the need to enable  
multiple participants to interact with each other, offering and  
consuming services on the scale of the Internet itself. As such it  
promotes a world in which services can and will be used and reused in  
ways that perhaps the originators of services do not envisage.

The OASIS SOA Reference Model gives a concise characterization of SOA  
means, and how it is different to other paradigms for distributed  
systems; one of the key distinguishing features of SOA is its ability  
to seamlessly incorporate multiple ownership domains.

The OASIS SOA Reference Architecture takes the work of the Reference  
Model one stage further: by providing an architectural description of  
how SOA-based systems may be realized.

There are three main views in the Reference Architecture: the view  
corresponding to how SOA-based might be used in an effective way; the  
view corresponding to how SOA-based systems may be constructed; and  
the view corresponding to the issues raised in owning SOA-based systems.

In this presentation we will outline the major models that are part of  
these views; and show how they form the basis of a coherent  
architecture that address many of the key points in systems that span  
ownership domains: how the roles of participants, resources, policies  
and agreements can be coherently integrated; how modern technologies  
can be used to realize such systems; and how issues such as security,  
governance and management can addressed effectively.