There are many options to implement a service-oriented architecture (SOA). A good SOA solution for one company might not be a good solution for another, even in the same business environment and IT landscape. Choosing a solid SOA solution involves strategy, vision, architectural thinking, and finally, technology. It also involves personal taste and organizational politics.

So, why did we decide to write a book dedicated to SOA solutions on System z then? The answer is quite simple: the combination of the System z hardware, the operating systems that run on System z, and the SOA middleware provide specific functionality and influence the effectiveness of your SOA solution to a great extent. In other words, if you were to implement the same SOA solution on System z and on another platform, you would see different results.

This book projects a large number of solutions in all areas of the IBM SOA Reference Architecture on IBM System z. Where appropriate we highlight the additional System z benefits of running a certain solution on System z.

The primary audience for this book is IT Architects, especially solution architects, enterprise architects, infrastructure architects, and application architects.

Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 2. Enterprise Service Bus services

Chapter 3. Business Process services

Chapter 4. Business Application services

Chapter 5. Interaction services

Chapter 6. Information services

Chapter 7. SOA Service management

Chapter 8. Service life cycle management