During my Biztalk Server training I have been asked several times whether Biztalk is an ESB or not.
Especially in the Java technology domain ESB is becoming more and more popular. For example recently BEA released Aqualogic Service Bus.
I always said that Biztalk has all the features that you would expect from an ESB like routing and mediation.
I it’s interview Is BizTalk Server an ESB? on DNJ Online Matt Nicholson discussed this questions with Scott Woodgate from the Biztalk Server Team.
As Scott said Biztalk is not just an ESB. With it’s additional features like Business Process Management or Business Activity Monitoring, just to name a few, in combination with arbitrary service hosts it poses an ideal platform for SOA applications.
Year: 2006
SOA Maturity Model
Quote taken from the website:
Service-oriented architecture (SOA) has emerged as the most significant shift in how business applications are designed, developed and implemented in the last 10 years, eclipsing the shift to client-server. In fact, Gartner, Inc. predicts that by 2008, “SOA will provide the basis for 80 percent of new development projects.”
While IT is quick to embrace the technical value of service-oriented design, development and implementation, IT executives face the very different challenge of accurately managing the investment in technology as it relates to business value. These IT managers and decision makers need help and guidance in communicating the business value of their SOA vision and to be able to benchmark their SOA adoption within the organization.
To address this challenge, Sonic Software and its partners AmberPoint, BearingPoint and Systinet have jointly developed A New SOA Maturity Model (SOA MM). The model is designed to show the increasingly positive impact of SOA adoption from a business benefits perspective. It provides IT decision makers with simple framework for benchmarking the strategic value of their SOA implementation, and a model for visualizing future success.
For me the SOA maturity model is very useful in order to discuss the SOA strategy for a company. The Quick Reference visualizes different maturity levels and helps the company to get an idea where they are standing.