Web-Oriented Architectures: On the Impact of Web 2.0 on Service-Oriented Architectures

Service-oriented architectures (SOAs) have been discussed intensively in science and industry since their first appearance in the mid-nineties. However, even today there is no generally accepted method for modeling a SOA or for converting other concepts (e.g., monolithic architectures, CORBA landscapes) into a SOA. There are numerous standards available in the SOA context, but instead of easing the creation of a SOA, they typically make their realization more complicated. On the other hand, recent developments in the Web 2.0 context show how easy it can be to link or compose ("mesh\´\´) IT components dynamically, so that original SOA goals like flexibility or reduction of complexity can be achieved by relatively simple means. An interesting concept in this context is the Web-oriented architecture (WOA), which represents a specialization of SOAs obtained by using simple Web 2.0 technologies and standards. Since for a WOA no generally accepted modeling techniques are available either, this paper reviews SOA models in light of their applicability to WOAs. A case study is used to discuss a possible realization and to preliminarily investigate the question of whether the intended simplicity can indeed be achieved.