More and more frequently, it's getting to the point where you can't talk about Software as a Service without invoking SOA, and, likewise, SaaS is becoming a larger part of SOA conversations.
Many of you may already be users of Salesforce.com, for example, in which applications are accessed and data managed over the Internet for a per-usage fee. Or, many of you may be more "casual" SaaS users of on-demand collaborative services such as Webex or PlaceWare.
Earlier this year, I authored a survey for the Oracle Applications Users Group (OAUG) -- in cooperation with Unisphere Research -- on the topic of Software as a Service. Of the 576 companies (mainly Oracle enterprises) in the survey, almost two out of five respondents, 39%, reported that they used SaaS applications, at least occasionally. This group is split between “daily” users (23%) and “occasional” users (16%).
Annrai O'Toole, CEO of Cape Clear, says SOA is a big and growing market, but he sees the main paradigm shift in enterprise applications centered around SaaS. In his latest blog post, Annrai says he wouldn't be surprised if SaaS adoption encompasses at least 80 percent of enterprises within the next decade.
As SaaS, combined with SOA methodologies, mature, Annrai predicts that enterprises will move away from the big ERP-style applications in droves. "For complex, multi-user, multi-system-integration enterprise apps, there aren't many real SaaS alternatives to Peoplesoft/Oracle or SAP today," he writes. "And even if there were, there are some significant hurdles to overcome. However, we really believe that both of these factors are changing -- there are a whole new breed of SaaS alternatives to the incumbents arriving and these companies are bringing with them a set of strategies that will credibly enable customers to switch off those big complex SAP/Peoplesoft/Oracle installations."
Granted, it may be painful to attempt to move off a well-established enterprise application to a more on-demand model. But Annrai believes SOA will remove much of this friction. "SOA and SaaS go hand-in-hand in opening the doors to this world -- this is where SOA/SaaS rubber meets the road."
The interaction between these two forces will take place at the integration level -- which is the biggest roadblock for SaaS for many enterprises. "This issue is complex, not just because the data formats are complex and semantically rich and that the business rules are equally byzantine, but also because the integrations must securely and reliably traverse the firewall," he said. SOA will also pave the way for data and business rule migration in an SaaS context. Moving these rules from an internal ERP application to an on-demand service is also a non-trivial task.
Annrai observes, however, that "a lot of newer SaaS applications are going to be built on a SOA platform." Witness the success of Rearden Commerce -- built entirely on SOA -- as an on-demand provider of business and travel services to large corporations.
"SOA is making it easier to build these new applications, quicker to add new functionality to them, and integrate them with existing applications that customers already own," Annrai observes. In addition, many of the ERP packages are evolving to Web services standards themselves, replacing the more proprietary EAI adapters.
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