Enterprise Architecture News & How-To


Will SAP’s Entry into BPO Cause the Market to Explode?

SAP's entrance into the business process outsourcing (BPO) market marks a major turning point in the outsourcing industry, according to market researcher Yankee Group. SAP's ERP model of the 1990s is finally transforming to adapt to the growth in outsourced services, with human resources at its center. Yankee Group says the HR BPO market is growing wildly and forecasts revenues will grow to $14 billion by 2009, up from $4.6 billion this year.

Web Services: Careful, It’s a Circus Out There...

Tricky security requirements and a lack of clear-cut standards make exposing applications as Web services a high-wire act.

Breaking Down Walls

Information silos have generated massive amounts of information that may not be easily accessible. SOA can change that.

Multi-vendor Drive for SOA Governance

Many IT shops are looking to service-oriented architectures as a way to build a unified, standards-based framework that would enable disparate systems to seamlessly interoperate. To do that requires an SOA governance architecture or framework, which manages the services and policies of the SOA and gives IT visibility into the SOA’s inner workings.

Going to SEA with Flashline

If a service-oriented enterprise architecture can build an IT model of your business data and practices, then you can optimize those business processes. That''s where the money is.

Digging into Data with SOAs

Until recently, most IT managers have focused on deploying service-oriented architectures on transaction systems and production apps, but now, some managers are exploring how to apply SOAs to the data warehouse and activities like business intelligence and business analytics.

Self-Service Data Warehouses

An SOA linked to a data warehouse can reduce costs, speed access to information and ultimately increase revenue.

Web Services Orchestration Waits for Standards Harmony

True Web services collaboration within the framework of a service-oriented architecture is as tantalizing as an oasis in the desert, but without standards, it's still only a mirage.

Books: Integrate Large-Scale Apps Successfully

Enterprise Application Integration Using .NET shows you how to overcome the issues and obstacles involved in integrating enterprise-scale applications successfully.

Enterprise Software Aids XML, Web Services and SOA Governance

Web services are supposed to work together to make life easier. Yet they only work well together if they're designed properly. WebLayers in Cambridge, Mass., has introduced an enterprise software tool to aid in effective governance of XML, Web services and SOA to ensure interoperability.

XML Appliances Optimize Web Services in the Data Center

Enterprises are increasingly turning to service oriented architectures (SOAs), both to exploit SOA's potential for eliminating redundancies and accelerating project delivery though the consolidation and reuse of Web services, and as a means of streamlining business processes among departments and organizations.

IONA Introduces New ESB Product

Although the enterprise service bus, or ESB, has only really become a product category recently, the term is getting plenty of mention lately. With the convergence of ubiquitous Web services and an IT focus on reuse and cost cutting, it's a good time for vendors with ESB products.

Sonic Strengthens ESB-based SOA Infrastructure

Sonic Software was one of the first to market with an enterprise service bus (ESB) product. Now the company is nicely positioned to take advantage of that early lead, as more and more companies move to adopt initiatives around Web services and service-oriented architectures (SOAs), with their promises of lower costs and non-proprietary solutions.

Bixhorn Paints Indigo Picture

Ari Bixhorn discusses Microsoft's plan to create a unified programming model (code-named Indigo) for building distributed, interconnected apps in an interview with VSM Editor in Chief Patrick Meader.