Service-Oriented Architecture: Services Overview

Service-oriented architectures (SOAs) connect the modern enterprise, providing the essential links between applications, platforms, business processes and data sources. But many enterprises, having embraced SOA for everything from ERP and mobile devices to social networking and cloud computing, now face challenges. Namely, they need to advance their SOA capabilities, programs and oversight to create a more service-oriented enterprise.

The business advantages of SOA include:

• Accessibility: Deliver data and collaboration capabilities to knowledge workers via PCs, portals, mobile devices or composite applications, regardless of where that data resides.

• Agility: Create a flexible SOA foundation that supports quick and cost-effective business strategy changes, by separating business processes from technology.

• Analysis: Enable rapid decision making by giving business leaders real-time, mission-critical business intelligence, backed by analytics, dashboards, reporting tools and mobile delivery.

• Efficiency: Apply SOA to consolidate, streamline and eliminate existing applications, as well as to embrace applications, infrastructure and platforms based in the cloud.

• Value: Connect old and new technology investments, as well as mash-ups, social media, the cloud and more, in a secure, controlled and cost-effective manner.

No matter whether your organization is just beginning with SOA or already has advanced SOA practices and infrastructure in place—but needs to identify the next step—Accenture offers the right strategic approach, breadth of skills, industry knowledge and project experience to help organizations more quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively deliver and capitalize on SOA.

The Accenture SOA Center of Excellence supports our solution planning, architecture and delivery capabilities, reducing delivery costs and improving delivery quality and consistency. Accenture offers:

• Unparalleled SOA project experience.

• A vendor-neutral perspective combined with sound business advice, industry knowledge and technology acumen.

• Ongoing research into emerging SOA trends plus strong relationships with major SOA vendors.

• Extensive industry and business process knowledge together with its ability to craft solutions that enable high performance.

• Leading-edge architects to help ensure that SOA delivers rich, robust and extendable solutions.

• SOA accelerators to help clients adopt required reference and delivery architectures, delivery methods.

• Pre-built, industrialized solution frameworks that are secure and highly repeatable.

• Strong relationship with key SOA vendors, including Oracle, IBM Software, TIBCO, Microsoft, SAP, Pegasystems and Software AG.

• The Accenture Global Delivery Network, which includes more than 6,000 technology architects based in 50 facilities, to support easy build and maintenance of a cost-effective SOA foundation.

Contact us to find out how we can help you.

To help organizations create a results-driven SOA strategy that supports and enhances their organizational, business and information access requirements, Accenture offers three services:

• SOA Strategy: Roadmap. For organizations just starting with SOA or those that require a well-defined SOA program path.

• SOA End-to-End Design and Delivery. Addresses end-to-end business concerns, using industrialized delivery methods, training programs and tools to drive SOA adoption throughout the organization. Our full life cycle SOA approach includes industrialization, governance and business process management.

• SOA Modernization: Extending and Streamlining. Accenture’s modernization program helps organizations with mature SOA programs overcome speed, cost-control and quality challenges.