International standards consortium Oasishas announced the formation of a new committee to develop a
reference model for service-oriented architectures
(SOAs).
The Oasis SOA Reference Model Technical Committee will promote
the continued development of multiple SOAs and related standards,
by acting as a guide for those writing SOAs and an analysis of
their functional components.
"The term SOA is used in an increasing number of contexts with
differing and even conflicting meanings," said Duane Nickull of
Adobe Systems, chair of the new committee.
"If SOA is architecture, as the name implies, then we should
define it as architecture. The reference model we create will be
useful for the entire industry, offering a way to preserve a common
layer of understanding across multiple service-oriented
environments and architectures."
The SOA reference model will offer an understanding of the core
elements within a service-oriented environment and the associations
and relationships among those elements.
The reference model itself will not be tied directly to any
standards, technologies or other concrete implementation details.
Instead, it will be designed to be used as a tool by software and
enterprise architects developing specific SOAs.