Relevance of Service Orientated Architecture to an Academic Infrastructure

1. Relevance of Service Orientated Architecture to an Academic Infrastructure Gareth Greenwood, e-learning Evangelist, IBM Software Group

2. SOA Enables Flexibility of Both IT and BusinessThrough Flexible Connectivity of Business Services • Representing every application or data resource as a service with a standardized interface • Enabling them to exchange structured information (messages, documents, ‘business objects’) • Mediating the message exchange through an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) • Providing connection to the ESB for legacy application environments TechWorks

3. What is IBM’s Definition of SOA …..? … service orientation? A way of integrating your business as linked services … a service? A repeatable business task – e.g., check customer credit; open new account … a composite application? • A set of related & integrated services that support a business process built on an SOA … service oriented architecture (SOA)? An IT architectural style that supports service orientation TechWorks

4. Portlet A Portlet B Portlet C Portlet D Service A (Credit Check) Service D (Place Order) Service B (Account Balance) Service C (Check Inventory) Introducing Composite Applications Composite applications are: • A way to aggregate business services and present them to the right users at the right time. • A method to complete a task by utilizing standardized and reusable business processes • A way to automate services by exposing human accessible processes in structured ways • Built using IT services such as integration, personalization, security, collaboration and orchestrated workflow services Business Value • Reuse existing assets • Quickly deploy new business models and processes TechWorks

5. Anapproachforbuildingdistributed systems that deliver application functionality asservicesto either end-user applications or other services • It defines : • An architecture that leverages open standards to represent software assets as services. • Provides a standard way of representing and interacting with software assets • Individual software assets become building blocks that can be reused in developing other applications • Shifts focus to application assembly rather than implementation details • Used internally to create new applications out of existing components • Used externally to integrate with applications outside of the enterprise Services are the Building Blocks for Reuse! A Service Oriented Architecture – IT View ITW Conference 2005

6. The SOA Foundation Lifecycle TechWorks

7. The SOA Foundation Lifecycle • Discover existing assets • Construct & Test • Compose • Deploy and Integrate with • People • Process • Information • Gather requirements • Model & Simulate • Design • Manage applications & services • Manage identity & compliance • Monitor business metrics • Financial transparency • Business/IT alignment • Process control TechWorks

8. Deploy Assemble Model Manage Facilitates communication between services ESB Apps & Info Assets SOA Reference Architecture Business Innovation & Optimization Services Facilitates better decision-making with real-time business information Interaction Services Process Services Information Services IT ServiceManagement DevelopmentServices Enables collaboration between people, processes & information Orchestrate and automate business processes Manages diverse data and content in a unified manner Integrated environment for design and creation of solution assets Manage and secure services, applications & resources Partner Services Business App Services Access Services Connect with trading partners Build on a robust, scaleable, and secure services environment Facilitates interactions with existing information and application assets Infrastructure Services Optimizes throughput, availability and performance TechWorks

9. So how does this relate to an Academic Establishment • Today most academic establishments have the following characteristics: • Most academic establishments have disparate IT applications and services. • Some central services, e.g. student registration, staff HR systems, central library systems. • Many local services that are faculty and department based, e.g. VLE type services, learning support services. • Hardware to support these disparate services is scattered across the organisation with no central control, management or load balancing. • No reuse of existing services within the establishment. • Limited if any interaction or connection between disparate services at any level: • Presentation level – no common access point to all services • Application level – each service is standalone • Data level – data stores are independent with no cross-connection • Applying SOA would change these characteristics! TechWorks

10. Applying SOA concepts in Academia • SOA can be applied across the range of ICT systems and infrastructure in an academic institution. • This presentation will now consider how four components of the SOA reference model apply to the academic world. • Enterprise Service Bus • Interaction Services • Access Services • Information Services • N.B. The principles of SOA can also readily apply to e-learning materials such as interactive Web Based Materials that are effectively applications. TechWorks

11. ESB Critical Components for Academic SOA - 1: ESB • Provides the service orientated interconnection channel for services. • Enables data owned by different services to be accessed, shared and correlated. • Technically operates at a services orientated level using methods such as Webservices. • Removes the need for individual point to point integration connections between applications using integration solutions that are custom at both the process and technology level. TechWorks

12. Critical Components for Academic SOA - 2: Interaction Services • Provides a common set of collaboration services that are accessible to all users and all services. • Instant messaging and Awareness • Chat Boards (Sticky Chat) • E-mail • Discussion; threaded, structured, unstructured. • RSS feeds • Document store and sharing • Advanced search tools • Composite presentation services • In an Academic environment this includes VLE services TechWorks

13. Critical Components for Academic SOA - 3: Access Services • Provides a common access point for all services: • Single sign-on to all services. • Single security control mechanism for access to services • Single and common identification of each user • Common service for identification of user role, permissions and rights to all services • In an Academic environment this can bring great benefits for the security of the institution, its IT services, its data, its students and its staff. TechWorks

14. Critical Components for Academic SOA - 4: Information Services • Provides a common access and management method for all data sources in the organisation, regardless of the structural nature of the data. • Enables data owned by different departments to be accessed, shared and correlated by any authorised user. • From an Academic perspective this allows for sharing of material such as student data, academic submissions, discussion input and teaching staff materials. TechWorks

15. Questions? THANK YOU TechWorks