Web services, like Lego blocks, are designed to fit into each other with maximum ease and, because they are loosely coupled, you can keep creating and modifying them in just about any way that you choose. A Web service from a shipping provider talks to a Web service on your company's website and - voila - customers can pull up real-time tracking information without even knowing that the data is coming from outside your company.
In SOA, no service is rigidly attached to a single system, just as in digital music no song is rigidly attached to a music album. Loose coupling: Web services, like digital songs, are not embedded in albums but can be easily pulled from different sources in order to be on a digital play-list that can be easily customized.Specifically, these are the three interrelated concepts that serve us well in understanding SOA: If you grasp these concepts, you're on your way to understanding enterprise SOA.
The songs are interoperable with your digital music player and your computer they are portable across media. You can then place them into a specific order on your iPod, or arrange to have them randomly shuffled. In iTunes, for example, you can instantly sort songs by name, popularity, artist and so forth, and buy only the ones you need. After digital music, you can assemble a customized play-list with just a couple of mouse-clicks. Then you had to transfer all the tracks you liked from different albums on to a different recording medium, such as a tape, one by one. For example, you had to buy an entire album to access a single track. Years ago, making a mix album was a complicated and expensive procedure. One of the best ways of understanding both the technical character and the business value of enterprise SOA is to draw an analogy with digital music. After checking out these resources, you'll be able to answer the question "What is NetWeaver?" Meanwhile, if you want an introduction to NetWeaver that puts the technology into strategic context, check out this white paper on tactical tips for using SAP NetWeaver to achieve specific goals. An SAP NetWeaver white paper offers another detailed introduction to NetWeaver. Chapter 3 goes into even more detail, offering an excellent overview of NetWeaver components. Chapter 1 of SAP NetWeaver for Dummies contains a helpful overview for example, the chart on page 19 offers a clear representation of NetWeaver's abilities to integrate people, data, processes and applications. The book SAP NetWeaver for Dummies comes highly recommended by many important experts in the SAP ecosystem. As you can see, the concept of a service - specifically, a Web service - is a key part of the answer to "What is SOA?" Thus, you should start your journey by reading this definition of Web services and listening to this podcast entitled What is SOA for more detailed background on SOA. It's easy to pardon anyone, even an SOA architect, for not being able to succinctly answer the question: "What is SOA?" Let's start with the basics: SOA is the acronym for service-oriented architecture. It's difficult to understand what SAP NetWeaver is without understanding what SOA is. SAP NetWeaver Configuration and Customization This SAP NetWeaver tutorial is designed to help executives, line-of-business managers, CIOs, IT developers, SOA architects and consultants understand the composition, features, benefits and drawbacks of the SAP NetWeaver platform and SAP's eSOA. Since NetWeaver is at the heart of SAP, all SAP customers must sooner or later come to terms with the NetWeaver platform and use it to best advantage. It focuses on the technical components of eSOA and NetWeaver and also associated methodologies, such as Run SAP and business process management ( BPM), which allow NetWeaver and eSOA users to maximize the ROI of their SAP investments and to achieve a more flexible, customizable business. The tutorial discusses the role of eSOA in NetWeaver and explains how NetWeaver technology and NetWeaver architecture are changing the face of SAP deployment and development.