SOA: An Approach to Information Sharing BJA Regional Information Sharing Conference Minneapolis, Minnesota March 28, 2007 Scott Came Director of Systems and Technology SEARCH

Agenda By the end, you should know: What is SOA? What is a reference architecture, and how does it help with SOA adoption? What value does SOA bring to information sharing? What resources are available to help you consider or adopt SOA? What are some SOA success stories?

What is SOA? Get some audience perspective…

Lets start with “architecture” Many of us understand what is meant by a Craftsman house, a Tudor house, a Victorian house, or a Federal house. These houses have many things in common: houses built according to any of these styles can be functional, comfortable. None is better than any other. We use the stylistic labels as a way to convey certain desirable characteristics that we want to achieve from designs.

Architectural Style An architectural style is a set of characteristics that distinguish an architecture The characteristics are intended to produce certain effects in things designed according to the style

Architectural Styles: Integration Shared User Interface Shared Database File Transfer SOA

SOA is an architectural style SOA is an architectural style, not for houses, but for sharing information and functionality between systems Like any architectural style, SOA has a set of distinguishing characteristics There are many ways to build a functional house…the right one depends on what you find important

Distinguishing Characteristics Interactions between consumers and providers (of functionality, data) take place across a minimalist interface Interface based on open (versus proprietary) standards Interface defined in business event terms, not system or technology terms Consumer can discover interface dynamically

What is SOA…really? A set of policies, standards, and guidelines that constitute the architectural style A reference architecture can provide a starting point for these by standardizing terminology and then standardizing how concepts are implemented Mention the SOA-RM and JRA.

The Global JRA The Global Infrastructure/Standards Working Group is defining a Justice Reference Architecture The JRA: Establishes common terminology for discussing SOA Evolves SOA concepts into reference standards/guidelines that you can use in establishing a specific SOA in your environment (rather than starting from scratch)

Key JRA Deliverables The JRA itself (common terminology) Service Interaction Profiles: Think “messaging standards” Web Services Others Service Modeling Guidelines Service Design Principles Methodology for identifying services Guidance on necessary investments to support services and interactions Management/Policy guidelines

What SOA is Not The same as web services Service buses and message brokers An infrastructure investment strategy The brainchild of any particular vendor Radically new SOA is not web services, but web services can be an effective means of implementing an SOA SOA is not about classes of tools, though tools can be useful as part of an implementation strategy SOA is not going to tell you who provisions what, where to outsource, what to share

Why SOA? What is the value? How do I sell it? Why is an architecture with these qualities a good thing? What value will I get by adopting SOA as my integration / information sharing approach?

Agility Accessing capabilities through services, if done with care, should result in more agile integrated systems Agility: the ability to adapt to changing business requirements and environmental context

Agility Makes a Difference Agility is the hallmark of successful modern enterprises Citizens expect rapid response to changing requirements In the public safety arena: Clever opponents New partners and requirements Policy initiatives Examples of success through agility: Amazon, Dell, Google, Toyota (lean mfg has been successful mostly because it promotes agility through reduced waste)

How is SOA agile? Minimizing dependencies: loose coupling Interoperability When context changes, there is minimal impact on existing systems What kinds of context changes can happen? Loose coupling and interoperability are really synonyms. Get some audience perspective on last bullet question. Suggested answers: system context, implementation context, temporal context, semantics Talk about policy agility.

Summary SOA is a style of designing integration solutions to achieve technical and policy agility SOA is not technology that you buy…it’s a way of thinking about positioning your technology capabilities for agile sharing

BJA/Partner Resources Global JRA: http://it.ojp.gov/topic.jsp?topic_id=242 Training: IJIS/SEARCH SOA Seminar available through GTTAC Technical Assistance available through BJA partners

Success Stories Wisconsin Washington State District of Columbia New York City—Corrections and Probation Los Angeles County

Director, Systems and Technology Thank You! Scott Came Director, Systems and Technology SEARCH scott@search.org 916-212-5978