This is related to the OASIS SOA Reference Model (but
actually bigger than that), so I thought I would pass it
along:
I am very
happy to report that a major historical milestone happened today regarding
SOA. Today, 3 open
standards consortiums (OASIS, The Open Group, and OMG) participated in a
conference call to discuss how we can "agree" between the consortiums on what
SOA is. OASIS has had a SOA definition for some time now (with the SOA Reference
Model), and the other 2 consortiums just released theirs. This was an informal
call, not launched from the highest
levels of any of the consortiums. I
represented OASIS on the call.
Here are some
highlights from our call:
- Participants were:
James
Odell (OMG), Harsh Sharma (OMG),
Ed
Harrington (The
Open Group), Chris Harding
(The
Open Group), and myself (OASIS). Frank McCabe (also of the OASIS SOA-RM TC) was
unable to participate due to being at the OASIS Symposium.
- We are looking for 1 or 2 participants from
W3C - I have an action item to suggest
suitable individuals (any
takers?:).
- Though the call began with the context of harmonizing
our definitions of SOA to have a single, shared definition, in discussion we
realized that that would not be possible given the differences between
the consortiums, the areas that we each focus on, and the role we each play in
industry. We therefore decided that our goal would be to produce and help foster
an understanding of each consortium's "treatment" of SOA, and the value of each
treatment to users and implementers.
- I suggested that we think in terms of the "SOA
lifecycle", and where each consortium's work might most apply (the suggestion
was very well-received).
- We also realized that a consortium's definition of
SOA goes beyond a glossary-type definition; for example, I pointed out that for
OASIS the SOA-RM spec (as a reference model) is itself a definition of SOA, in
its entirety.
- We discussed looking at the various "perspectives"
(viewpoints) of SOA - e.g. business, architectural, data, etc. - and mapping
each of those viewpoints to each consortium's treatment of
SOA;
- There is a possibility that all of the call
participants may participate in a panel session at The Open Group's July
conference in Miami, to discuss this very subject (SOA and the various
consortiums). Each individual will also have an opportunity to give a SOA pitch
on behalf of their consortium, and we may jointly author a white paper in
advance of the consortium on each consortium's treatment of
SOA.
- The group will hold calls every 2 weeks in the small
setting, but with the understanding that each participant is acting as a
representative and liaison for its respective consortium.
Please let me know if you have any
questions.
Thanks,
Joe
