Adjusting the Application Architecture
Analysis of differences enables inventory of non-implemented functions.
It is possible to evaluate:• which features are not supplied by any application.
• how many existing applications cannot be integrated in the service architecture? (problem of interface, separation of services)
• for integrated applications, which services need to be reviewed. For example, because they have too many functionalities and therefore impose restrictions on the service architecture.
Integrating New Applications
When new applications are integrated into a set of applications, various criteria need to be taken into consideration, including:
• The durability of the application: a supplier study should be considered in order to predict the longevity of the product. We generally consider supplier-associated criteria such as maintenance and support conditions, customer references, the capital base of the company, etc.
• The technical constraints: even though the service architecture has been defined so as to abstract out the implementation constraints, there are often technical constraints that need to be taken into account from the start of the study. These constraints need to be considered when choosing the applications (and often it is better to bear them in mind when designing the service-oriented architecture in order to avoid embarking on studies when it is clear in advance that they are unrealizable). For example, if the operating system is an imposed choice (on account of the existing hardware pool), the catalog of applications will inevitably be limited.
• The use of standards: consider whether the chosen application is based on standards, perhaps in terms of data export (XML format), data storage (relational base), the man-machine interface (reduced learning time), etc. These considerations determine the potential for future evolution.
Service Accessibility
Applications make available some of their services for other applications with a view to their reuse. To do this, they need connection points with the outside. Only the services linked to a connection point are accessible for a given application.
Deployment
this consists of defining the infrastructure on which are based the applications chosen for implementing the service-oriented architecture.
If the technical constraints have not been imposed at the outset, the choice of applications will certainly bring new constraints. For example, the operating system, the size of the host servers and the power of these servers are all examples of the parameters to be considered when implementing the technical infrastructure.
SOA Analysis Reports
MEGA Architecture on HOPEX provides reports enabling service-oriented architecture analysis:
• Application Functional Analysis: this report template compares a set of elements providing functions with a set of expected functions (functional scope).
• IT Services Attached To Process: this report finds services relating to a set of processes.