Lessons from an SOA pioneer

Con-Way dropped the IIS server in 2000 because Microsoft ASPs were "not cutting it" as usage increased, Sharabu says. Instead, the company deployed an IBM WebSphere server and began using EJBs to encapsulate the business and presentation logic for Web-based services.

Free IT resource Hear how top CIOs turn change into a competitive advantage. Sponsored by HP Free IT resource Attend the SOA Executive Forum: Breaking SOA Bottlenecks SOAExecForum.com/may2007 Sponsored by InfoWorld

In 2003, Con-Way extended its architecture to work with a data warehouse that replicated data from its parent company's Oracle system. It deployed a Tibco EAI server to connect its mainframe applications to CNF's Oracle Financials and PeopleSoft applications so that the two companies' systems could interact. (Before that, Con-Way and CNF just exchanged data.) The initial interface components were hard-coded; Con-Way is now creating components that deal with the applications' APIs, so as the applications change, the components don't have to.

The company has also expanded the use of data warehouses and data marts, as customers demand more information in near real time. To support that, Con-Way has created Web-based components that allow customers to run queries and reports against these data marts. Con-Way is also exploring the use of an event-based architecture on its Tibco server to actively deliver information and execute component services, such as sending a confirmation when a package is delivered or updating the shipping manifest if a mismatch is detected between a customer's stated and actual package size and weight. "Having components lets us prioritize and stage our propagation," Sharabu says.

An early, but careful, adopter

Although the Con-Way effort began eight years ago, the basic architecture has remained stable and has allowed the company to change its technologies while maintaining the underlying business logic and adding new business logic as the market demands. The SOA also allows Con-Way to maintain several types of technology, each suited for specific operations, without creating an overly complex integration challenge. And its IT staff is able to respond to business needs quickly by truly understanding the business processes.

Con-Way is also careful to avoid leaps into the latest standards and technologies promoted under the SOA label. "We are not in a hurry to embrace every new technique, process, standard, or technology that comes down the pike," Sharabu says. "We'd rather examine it and match it to our business relevance and adopt it only if it makes sense to do so."

In fact, Sharabu insists that if an SOA's focus becomes specific technologies -- rather than the architecture -- IT has missed the point. "Companies tend to look for a Holy Grail. But this is really about building a solid foundation," he says. A successful SOA implementation allows IT to adopt new technologies as appropriate, while keeping the old ones as long as they continue to work.

The componentization of business processes into discrete pieces of technology allow businesses to focus just on changes to business processes and truly valuable new technologies, not on consistent redevelopment of the same systems based on the technology du jour, he says. "The trick is to not let new technology changes affect what already accomplishes your business processes."