a SOA class at IBM

I attended a free 3-day class (free for IBM partners) titled “Designing SOA Solutions with the IBM Foundation” from April 30 to May 2, 2007. I found the class very useful. Although the class somewhat deviated from the planned agenda, I found the dialog quite intriguing. All of the participants had SOA experience and knowledge and came with plenty of questions and offered valuable feedback and real life experiences. Incidentally, out of 10 people, I was the only female (typical) and only one of two Americans. The other American was also from my company. I was able to get a quick glance at some of the framework provided within IBM’s rather closely guarded and propreitary closed Service-Oriented Modeling and Architecture (SOMA) methodology. SOMA is IBM’s approach to service modeling, service design and service deployment. SOMA covers a broad scope and implements service-oriented analysis and design (SOAD) through the identification, specification and realization of services, components that realize those services (a.k.a. "service components"), and the flows that can be used to compose services. A description of SOMA is available in the article "Service-oriented Modeling and Architecture: How to Identify, Specify and Realize Services". SOMA includes an analysis and design method that extends traditional object-oriented and component-based analysis and design methods to include concerns relevant to and supporting SOA. IBM has integrated SOMA with its RUP methodology and its tools, particularly the Websphere line of products.