Enterprise SOA - Designing IT For Business Innovation - Feedback?

[Former Member]

Hello everybody,

we would like to express honest acknowledgments to everybody who already contributed to the book! Given the positive impression we got so far about it, we are convinced that this book will be very helpful for your ESA adoption plans. Please share with us all feedback that you have under this forum topic, or drop us and email ESABookFeedback@sap.com.

Best regards

Thomas Mattern – Solution Marketing ESA

Dan Woods – Evolved Media NetWorks

<b></b><b></b>

[Former Member]

Hi Thomas,

I am currently reading the book Enterprise SOA-Designing IT for Business Innovation. And also pleased to get your signature on book.

I find this book very interesting and very informative.

Regards

Ajay

[thomas_mattern]

Hi Ajay,

sorry for the late reply. I am just back from vacation. Thx a lot for the positive feedback.

Best regards

Thomas

[Former Member]

Hi,

I was thinking to buy and read the book but the critics are quite destructive - at least the one I've read.

But if you could lend me a copy of the book I will try to read completly and give you my feedback.

But I guess this book is written more from a management and marketing perspective and maybe not very interesting for a developer.

Best Regards,

Frank

[thomas_mattern]

Hi Frank,

the “beauty and the beast” of the book is it’s broad target audience. If you are a developer, living most of the day in the object-room, thinking rather how to code very elegant then why you code, you might be disappointed with the book. It’s not a programmers guide you can experience by hands-on lessons.

If you are a developer who wants to get an overview what Enterprise SOA is about, what are the main concepts behind Enterprise SOA and how SAP and customers converts to it, you will find a lot of interesting stuff.

Enterprise SOA always describes the marriage between business and IT and that comprises a business process expert kind of target reader as well as an enterprise architect.

So my recommendation would be, if you are a more technical reader look at chapters about creating services and may get an overview about topics that seems not on the first look fit into a technical SOA picture, e.g. ES Community, Governance, etc.

If you are more the business reader you might find it interesting to read about how companies evolve towards Enterprise SOA in chapter 3 (organizational challenges) and may get the important concepts from the “Learning To Think ESA” chapter (role of composites etc.).

Anyway, we know that we can’t make it right for everybody and there is always room for improvement and enhancement. We already thinking about more detailed guides and descriptions that might have a more narrower target group. We would love to see this as a “community project” letting experts write for experts in a particular area. For example, we truly believe that there is so much to say about “Enterprise SOA and Security” or about SAP’s engagement with Enterprise SOA in a particular industry, that you could fill easily one book for each (Example is the “ESA for financial services” book from Martin Schroter, Bruno Bontani and Joachim Regutzki http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/1592290957/028-0502207-3726154?v=glance&n=52044011&s=gateway&v=glanc....

Time to think about…

Regards

Thomas Mattern

[Former Member]

Hi,

I was a bit wondering about the following statement in the book which was also mentioned in one of the critics I've read:

The book ask's the question: "Why is SOA better than OO ?" and also gives the answer :

"However, the calling application must be written in the same language as the object it is trying to access." and the second answer is:

"Web services provide a standard way to communicate between services, which may be written in different languages."

The guy who reviewed the book really makes jokes about those statements. Even if the book is not for "developers" such arguments are not sufficient at all and besides that they are not true anyway.

Best Regards,

Frank

PS: I know the SOA - Subject is really hot right now but still I prefer a more neutral and substantiate argumentation.

[Former Member]

Hi Frank,

Its my personal view that book ESOA - Designing IT for Business Innovation is worth buying and reading the book.

This book takes you all the way from Business Perspective to Technical Requirements for enabling ESOA for Business Process Flexibility.

Regards

Ajay

[Former Member]

Hi,

well maybe - maybe not.

Isn't it the other way around: SOA should make your BP's more flexible ?