Service-oriented architecture (SOA) offers greater agility, flexibility and productivity, which is why businesses are eagerly adopting and implementing SOAs as the framework for their IT infrastructures. However, as with any technology adoption, there are countless details to be considered to ensure that the SOA delivers upon its promises. One of the most difficult challenges is incorporating existing systems into the SOA environment without incurring the time and cost of changing these legacy systems to conform to new standards. Data services may hold the answer to moving legacy systems forward into the SOA. Data services are an often overlooked, but essential component for delivering data--the lifeblood of any organization that is typically found in legacy systems.

A fully functional SOA is comprised of four main components, and no one vendor currently provides the best-of-breed technology for each of these components. The four components--(a) transaction services, (b) data services, (c) a services registry, and (d) orchestration technology—are defined as follows:

(a)
1. Transaction Services – These services typically come to mind when one thinks of Web services. Transaction services automate business processes. For example, “create order” is a common transaction service used to enter a new order into an order management system. As the order progresses through the fulfillment process, it is updated with other transaction services like “allocate inventory,” “pick,” “pack” and “ship.” Essentially, transaction services create and update data.
(b)
2. Data Services – These services read, display and analyze the data that has been created – typically with transaction services. Data services help business users make long-term as well as daily business decisions. Data services help provide insight into an organization, and they can reveal long-term trends such as correlation between revenue growth and product quality, as well as up-to-the-minute insight into order status by customer and more.
(c)
3. Services Registry – This directory lists all the services available in an SOA. A registry contains the definition, location, parameters and output for each service. It provides a simple and standards-based means for publishing and discovering reusable services. It is often the center for SOA governance, providing visibility, reliability and control of all services.
(d)
4. Orchestration Technology – Also known as Business Process Management (BPM), orchestration ties together services in a coherent manner, and coordinates interactions among services. It manages the interoperability of all services.

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