Written Review of one Article.
APA format work must be cited
Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) knowledge domain using academic databases such as the ACM database, IEEE database, INFORMS database, Elsevier database, or Google Scholar. The articles should be academically credible and not include popular literature sources such as Wikipedia.
You are required to research one article specific to the Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) knowledge domain using academic databases such as the ACM database, IEEE database, INFORMS database, Elsevier database, or Google Scholar. The articles should be academically credible and not include popular literature sources such as Wikipedia.
Note: Articles that you used for the annotated bibliography assignment can also be reused for this activity.
Task Description
Step 1: Research and post your written review in the discussion thread for this activity. You will then participate in a discussion. Be sure to clearly identify your name in both the post title and file attachment.
Key areas to focus on for your written review are:
1. Identifies the research problem
2. Methodology used in the research
3. Any research questions the authors used
4. Goals and objectives of the research
5. Research Outcome
6. Areas for further research
Critique the following article
A Roadmap towards the Convergence of Business Process Management and ServiceOriented Architecture.
In this article the authors examine the inexorable movement towards the alignment of Business Process Management (BPM) and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). It looks at the trend to convergence and determines that there are obstacles to be overcome on the way to full integration whilst also proposing a roadmap to facilitate a greater BPM-SOA connection.
They begin their research by setting out the differences between BPM and SOA and then suggest that when coupled together these differences can become synergetic or "two sides of the same coin". While accepting that BPM and SOA can co-exist independently they suggest it is as the business and its IT infrastructure grows that the benefits of integration become clear. Agility, reusable services and managed flexibility are all mentioned as benefits to this approach.
Despite the researchers assessment that convergence is predestined they do accept that obstacles exist and proceed to examine some of those. They see a requirement for the standardisation of protocols and tools, industry wide, to aid in smoother integration. A need for dynamic process tools is also identified. Aside from the technical requirements, a shift in the mind-set of stakeholders is put forward as one of the biggest challenges to convergence. The research suggests that this is down to creating strategic business concepts more so than the tools and software. Such convergence will invariably be a slow process and the business case will need to be robust and well-articulated before the massive investment required is secured.
The article then progresses to discussing other pathways for business to consider such as employing consultancy options if the experience or competency for such a transition is not available in-house. They suggest that a prudent approach is to start small and design for scalability.
In conclusion the researchers propound that it is a case of when and not if BPM-SOA convergence will be the leading practice. They state that this is a journey and not a destination and did not shy away from the pitfalls. Their research seems to suggest that the integration required is as much about mind set change as technical change. There is no doubt however that their research leads them to believe this is the way forward and needs to be embraced by all.
Reference.
Kamoun F. (2007).A Roadmap towards the Convergence of Business Process Management and Service Oriented Architecture.http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1247273