The Connected Business: The Microsoft Approach to SOA (Continued)

The OSU Medical Center is already seeing improvements in patient care, more realistic training opportunities, better research, more efficient billing, improved auditing, and better use of resources. In fact, the Center expects to have a 30 to 35 percent gain in operational efficiency from this application alone.

Back to Services
In the end (and to no surprise), service-oriented architectures and connected systems are based on the concept of a service—a collection of objects that perform a task through a relationship (see Figure 3). Services are tied to one another through standard interfaces, or connection points, that provide access to the service and enable you to integrate it into the systems you build. Systems are no longer assembled as piece parts after the fact, but are designed right from the start with connection points in mind.

This beneficial approach gives you the flexibility to enhance or change your systems as your business evolves. Because your systems are designed to use discretionary components that work either internally or externally, interpret data for you, and basically "plug into" your overall architecture, you have the freedom to modify them at any time that makes sense for you. You can decide to provide some of these components yourself or obtain them from other sources—some of which might even be outside the boundaries of your network. The use of Web services and service orientation found in these more connected businesses offers a greater degree of freedom to connect across boundaries—whether they are walls, borders, or mindsets—to link information, applications, and people. This business opportunity results in technical implications: the need for decentralized behavior and federated trust, as well as security, identity, and services management.

Connected Business, Connected Systems
The OSU Medical Center example demonstrates that by thinking beyond linking applications, you can connect systems, people, and information, leading to a more connected business. This service-oriented, connected business usually includes these characteristics:

• First and foremost, a connected business must effectively link people to information.
• Second, information should be mobile. Data should be available in a format that can be adapted to a variety of end-use devices, giving users the freedom to choose the device that best fits their needs.
• Third, information must be free to move across boundaries. Web services provide the best means to move information across platforms and applications, providing the fundamental communications fabric and contract among participants in the system.
• Fourth, use what you have but prepare for the future. Connected businesses can take advantage of existing systems through interoperability and "wrapping," but should use a service-oriented architecture to optimize for future evolution.