Friday, November 03, 2006

IASA Meeting on Securing SOA

IASA Mid-Atlantic Chapter

Thursday November 16th, 6-8 pm

Topic: "Securing SOA"

Abstract:

Integration has been the Holy Grail in information technology from the time the second program was written. Over time we have explored several different architectural models for integration and many different technologies. The scrap heap of IT history is littered with approaches that failed technically and technically brilliant approaches that did not capture the market. Despite a long history of failure, we have doggedly pursued the objective, because the imperative for integration in compelling and the cost of a failing to integrate is overwhelming.

We are now driving to integration through SOA. Through the evolution of ubiquitous connectivity based on internet protocols and vendor-independent standards with integration we are seeing much greater success than in prior efforts. SOA works, the case is compelling, and the rush is on. There are challenges, however. First, there are degrees of SOA, with huge implications in terms of cost, performance, and risk. Second, building SOA requires fundamental changes in organizations and processes. Focusing only on the technology is a prescription for failure. Finally, SOA is a very
different animal from a technical perspective. The standard point of attack on a system is at the interfaces, and SOA is all about interfaces. SOA is a target-rich environment.

Craig Miller will talk about his experiences in building SOA at the enterprise scale. He will talk about his personal experience with a small pharmaceutical company (Cubist), a large health insurance company (Wellpoint) and ongoing work with large internet security brokerage. All defined and approached SOA in their own way.

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