Introduction
Software services, in a service-oriented architecture (SOA), can be used again and again in many different business processes, making for a very flexible, efficient, and vibrant business and information technology infrastructure. Providing, of course, that IT has the right platform in place for modeling business processes and implementing the SOA. Using the InterSystems Ensemble product as an example, this paper examines two key technologies that are absolutely essential for successful SOA implementation, but missing from most SOA development platforms. Abstraction and Data PersistenceInterSystems Ensemble provides a single, comprehensive, and architecturally consistent solution for developing, integrating, orchestrating, deploying, and managing services in a service oriented architecture. Layered on top of the infrastructure you currently have in place, Ensemble provides all the functionality found in enterprise service bus (ESB) products commonly used for SOA implementation. But Ensemble goes further by providing two innovative and essential technologies that should be part of any effective SOA platform - a comprehensive application and data abstraction facility, and an integrated object and metadata repository.Abstraction technology hides the nature, variety, and complexity of the underlying interfaces and data that are part of the SOA implementation. The integrated repository, and the data persistence it provides, is the key to efficient reuse of services and SOA management. With this technology in the SOA platform, your IT organization can be assured of having the flexibility to adapt rapidly to changes in business requirements and processes, and investment protection through insulation from changes to the underlying technologies and standards.
