New in SOA Suite 12c and AIAFP/OER Backward Compatibility Table by Luis Augusto Weir

September 19, 2014 Leave a comment

Finally Oracle SOA Suite 12cR1 (12.1.3.0.0) is out (http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/pressrelease/soa-suite-12c-062614).Having implemented all versions of SOA Suite (10.1.3.1-5, 11.1.1.1-7) I am particularly more exited about this new release as I was when its predecessors were launched. And this is because unlike the previous releases, these versions is releases in the middle of major trends such as cloud computing, mobile integration, Internet of Thins, Machine to Machine, are starting to become main-stream and I see SOA Suite 12c as a fundamental building block to supporting all of these new trends!
Listing below some of the new features of Oracle SOA 12c that I am more exited about:

  • Enhanced cloud integration with cloud adapters
  • Improved mobile & IoT support with REST/JSON adapters
  • Seamless OEP integration (very useful for EDA’s or Big Data integration support)
  • Improved user experience and productivity by:
    • Finally having OSB IDE now fully supported by JDeveloper
    • New “template” feature which allows developer to create blueprints of pre-built SOA/OSB composites/services
    • “Composite like” development of OSB services
    • Completely new ADF based OSB console
  • Improved support for large/small documents transfer by incorporating the Oracle Managed File Transfers
  • Backward compatibility with AIA FP with the use of SOA Core Extensions (http://docs.oracle.com/middleware/1213/core/INSOA/planning.htm#INSOA498)
  • As per my understanding, OER harvester for SOA 12c assets will be available as part of the release of OER 12c (12.1.3) which will come out soon

Is about the last point two points  (AIA/OER) that I want to talk a bit more, specially because both of them are governance related features.
Although 12c introduces many features which will make it easier to govern a SOA project, if you are using AIA or OER in 11g or if you are about to start a 11g project, you must take note of the following:
Read the complete article here.

SOA & BPM Partner Community

For regular information on Oracle SOA Suite become a member in the SOA & BPM Partner Community for registration please visit www.oracle.com/goto/emea/soa (OPN account required) If you need support with your account please contact the Oracle Partner Business Center.

Blog Twitter LinkedIn image[7][2][2][2] Facebook clip_image002[8][4][2][2][2] Wiki

Filed under SOA Tagged with , , , , , , ,

SOA Transformation through SOA Upgrade by Luis Augusto Weir

August 4, 2014 Leave a comment

10gTo11gMuch has been said about Oracle SOA Suite 10g (or JCaps) upgrades to 11g and how features map between both versions. There is also plenty of information online about this topic both official and unofficial. It’s not news to many that for example SOA Suite 10g is currently in extended support and product will enter sustaining support by the end of 2014 (I will explain more about what extended and sustaining support means later in the blog). However one fact remains truth: There are still many companies out there running platforms that are (or soon will be) in sustaining support, and that don’t yet have an upgrade strategy. I say this based on my own experience as I am currently helping several customers do exactly this.

Having said that,  I wrote this blog in an attempt to give SOA experts, Integration Leads and Architects key pointers that can serve as inspiration to come up with a transformational approach when defining an upgrade strategy. Note that I am using the word “transformation” deliberately and I will explain why shortly.

Note that although this article is mainly related to the Oracle SOA 10g to 11g technology stacks, the approaches, tips and information provided in this blog should also be applicable when defining any technology upgrade. In fact, once 12c is more mature I will probably refresh this blog to cover 11g to 12c upgrades.

Following my key pointers to help you define your upgrade as a SOA Transformation:

    1)Understand the product roadmaps and planning to move in advance
    2)Take a SOA Transformation approach and not just a technology upgrade
    3)Elaborate a SOA Transformation Roadmap
    4)Understand current and future technology stacks and identify potential risks and challenges in advance
    5)Define a service transformation methodology
    6)SOA transformation also requires organisational changes and maturity

1) Understand the product roadmaps and planning to move in advance

This is one of the most important points and one that many have either failed to understand or have just ignored (hence why many companies still stuck in 10g and have no plan to upgrade yet). This is important because by understanding the product releases and features, release dates, and support lifeline you can plan in advance an upgrade approach and avoid having to do something tactically, in a rush and with limited budget.

Before getting further into this topic, it is critical that you understand the basics of Oracle product releases: Read the complete article here.

SOA & BPM Partner Community

For regular information on Oracle SOA Suite become a member in the SOA & BPM Partner Community for registration please visit www.oracle.com/goto/emea/soa (OPN account required) If you need support with your account please contact the Oracle Partner Business Center.

Blog Twitter LinkedIn image[7][2][2][2] Facebook clip_image002[8][4][2][2][2] Wiki

Filed under SOA Tagged with , , , , , , ,

SOA Governance FAQ by Luis Weir

April 9, 2014 Leave a comment

After more than decade implementing SOA, I’ve come to the conclusion that one of the reasons that prevent organisations from realising the benefits of SOA is the lack of some sort of governance in their SOA implementations. I have also come to the sad conclusion that even though this is well known fact, many (end customers and SIs alike) still lack understanding of what SOA Governance is and why is it needed. Having said that, I created this post not only for my own reference, but also share this knowledge for those wishing to improve their understanding on this amazing topic.

Hopefully this FAQ provides some concise answers to many of these questions.

What is SOA Governance?

R. In simplistic terms, SOA Governance is the alignment of processes, people and tools needed to ensure that a SOA implementation is successful. SOA Governance primary objective is to maximise the benefits that SOA can bring to the business and IT. One thing to bear in mind is that SOA Governance does not exist on its own; it is in fact an extension of IT governance and EA governance. Read the complete article here.

SOA & BPM Partner Community

For regular information on Oracle SOA Suite become a member in the SOA & BPM Partner Community for registration please visit www.oracle.com/goto/emea/soa (OPN account required) If you need support with your account please contact the Oracle Partner Business Center.

Blog Twitter LinkedIn image[7][2][2][2] Facebook clip_image002[8][4][2][2][2] Wiki

Filed under SOA Tagged with , , , , , , ,

AIA Foundation Pack Architecture Overview by Luis Weir

March 15, 2014 Leave a comment

The Oracle Application Integration Architecture Foundation Pack (recently renamed to just Foundation Pack) at is Oracle’s accelerator framework for implementing SOA-based system integrations. AIA FP and its prebuilt integrations such as PIPs were originally created to facilitate and accelerate the integration between different Oracle applications such as Siebel, E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, and JD Edwards, among others. Customers looking to simultaneously implement and integrate several Oracle applications gain huge benefits from employing PIPs, as these significantly reduce the effort and risk involved with building interfaces to support business processes. Given Oracle’s aggressive and continuous growth by acquisition, AIA FP and prebuilt integrations have become fundamental to rapidly integrate newly acquired products with their existing apps portfolio.

The AIA FP contains a variety of design-time and runtime artifacts that can be used when defining, designing, building, testing, and deploying SOA solutions. The following diagram presents an overview of the different components that build up the AIA FP: Read the complete article here.

SOA & BPM Partner Community

For regular information on Oracle SOA Suite become a member in the SOA & BPM Partner Community for registration please visit www.oracle.com/goto/emea/soa (OPN account required) If you need support with your account please contact the Oracle Partner Business Center.

Blog Twitter LinkedIn image[7][2][2][2] Facebook clip_image002[8][4][2][2][2] Wiki

Filed under SOA Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

9 Tips for Organizational Maturity in SOA by Luis Weir

February 20, 2014 1 Comment

One of the greatest challenges to implementing SOA has in fact nothing to do with the intrinsic complexity behind a SOA technology platform. It is widely recognized that the real difficulty lies in dealing with people and processes from different parts of business and aligning them to deliver enterprise wide solutions. This is not only true in the case of SOA architectures but rather a challenge faced in systems design in general. As it has been nicely put by Conway’s law: “organizations which design systems … are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the communication structures of these organizations”.

Following 9 tips that have helped me bridge organizational silos by improving communications and collaboration between teams/departments and also by providing visibility over available assets:

Read the complete article here.

SOA & BPM Partner Community

For regular information on Oracle SOA Suite become a member in the SOA & BPM Partner Community for registration please visit www.oracle.com/goto/emea/soa (OPN account required) If you need support with your account please contact the Oracle Partner Business Center.

Blog Twitter LinkedIn image[7][2][2][2] Facebook clip_image002[8][4][2][2][2] Wiki Mix Forum

Filed under SOA Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Survey SOA & BPM Partner Community

December 18, 2013 Leave a comment

Like every year we want to know your feedback about the SOA & BPM Partner Community. Your feedback is important to us and will help us to better understand what you like and what we can improve. Please spend 5-10 minutes to answer our questions: SOA & BPM Partner Community Survey 2013 and help us to know your feedback.

SOA & BPM Partner Community

For regular information on Oracle SOA Suite become a member in the SOA & BPM Partner Community for registration please visit www.oracle.com/goto/emea/soa (OPN account required) If you need support with your account please contact the Oracle Partner Business Center.

Blog Twitter LinkedIn image[7][2][2][2] Facebook clip_image002[8][4][2][2][2] Wiki Mix Forum

Filed under Community Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

Luis Weir: Challenges to Implementing SOA Governance by Bob Rhubart

December 13, 2013 Leave a comment

"Oracle SOA Governance 11g Implementation" co-author Luis Weir discusses his book, his Oracle OpenWorld session, and a project that required him to set things right after a customer botched their original SOA Governance implementation. Interested ? read the – Oracle SOA Governance 11g Implementation book? For additional SOA books please visit out wiki.

SOA & BPM Partner Community

For regular information on Oracle SOA Suite become a member in the SOA & BPM Partner Community for registration please visit www.oracle.com/goto/emea/soa (OPN account required) If you need support with your account please contact the Oracle Partner Business Center.

Blog Twitter LinkedIn image[7][2][2][2] Facebook clip_image002[8][4][2][2][2] Wiki Mix Forum

Filed under SOA Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

SOA Governance 11g Implementation book by Luis Augusto Weir & Andrew Bell

August 16, 2013 Leave a comment

This book will show the reader how to successfully implement SOA Governance using Oracle’s SOA Gov ernance Suite 11g based on practical examples and real world use cases.

This book is intended for Enterprise Architects, Solution Architects, Technical Architects and SOA consultants who want to successfully implement SOA Governance using the Oracle SOA Governance Suite of products. The book assumes that although the reader may have previous experience and/or exposure to the Oracle SOA Suite 11g, and may have general knowledge of SOA Governance, the reader doesn’t have practical experience implementing the Oracle SOA Governance Suite.

Oracle SOA Governance 11g Implementation: RAWKey Features:

  • Understanding SOA Governance, its key concepts, goals and objectives and how to implement these using the Oracle SOA Governance Suite.
  • Execute a SOA Maturity Assessment in order to capture the SOA Governance challenges specific to your organization.
  • Implement Oracle Enterprise Repository (OER) and Oracle Service Registry (OSR) to address your organisation’s SOA Governance Design-time and Runtime requirements.
  • Implement Runtime Governance using Oracle Web Service Manager (WSM) security policies and by leveraging Oracle Enterprise Manager’s (OEM) key management features.
  • Achieve close-loop governance by feeding OER with runtime operational metrics and enforcing service reuse in OER.

The book is available at Packt Looking for additional SOA books or You published a book feel free to add it to our publications wiki!

SOA & BPM Partner Community

For regular information on Oracle SOA Suite become a member in the SOA & BPM Partner Community for registration please visit www.oracle.com/goto/emea/soa (OPN account required) If you need support with your account please contact the Oracle Partner Business Center.

Blog Twitter LinkedIn image[7][2][2][2] Facebook clip_image002[8][4][2][2][2] Wiki Mix Forum

Filed under SOA Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Newer posts →