The Foundation for Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a hosted service over the Internet - the cloud.  To take advantage of these services, organizations need to understand Service Oriented Architecture (SOA).  Recent tactical success in the utilization of Web services and the value proposition of Cloud Computing has brought renewed attention to a strategic commitment to SOA.  Early adopters have been investing in SOA for the past five years but now the development of more rigorous methodologies and technologies – and the maturing of standards – are making SOA accessible to everyone.  SOA is an example of a software architecture.  It can be defined as a software design and implementation methodology for creating loosely coupled, coarse-grained business services.  These business services can be independently developed and combined into higher value business processes. 

This course starts with an explanation of the business drivers for SOA including Cloud Computing and selected vertical industry initiatives.  It will explain the basic concepts of SOA, including business services, a service contract, a service registry and an enterprise service bus. It will describe SOA Governance, Management and Security - and their role in designing SOA for the enterprise.  It will explain the fit between SOA and other complementary technologies such as BPM, BR, EP and CC.  It will introduce SOA design and development using a model-driven methodology and the process of creating composite applications.  It will explain strategies for successfully deploying SOA - including example case studies - to demonstrate the benefits, costs, and risks of the SOA approach.  Lastly, it will review approaches to expanding SOA throughout an enterprise.