portals: the original soa framework

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Notes accompany this presentation. Please select Notes Page view. These materials can be reproduced only with Gartner's official approval. Portals: The Original SOA Framework Ray Valdes Research Director Internet Platforms & Web Services

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Page 1: Portals: The Original SOA Framework

Notes accompany this presentation. Please select Notes Page view. These materials can be reproduced only with Gartner's official approval. Such approvals may be requested via e-mail — [email protected].

Portals: The Original SOA Framework

Ray ValdesResearch Director

Internet Platforms & Web Services

Page 2: Portals: The Original SOA Framework

Conclusions

"Portal" used to be most misunderstood term in IT "Service-oriented architecture" (SOA) is now most misunderstood When understood, both have tremendous potential for positive impact Portals are about aggregation, integration and connecting systems

– Content, data, information

– Business process, applications, logic SOA is also about connecting systems

– Service-orientation is a pattern for distributed computing

– SOA is not the solution, but one aspect of a solution SOA-style connections are not the only ways to connect

– Monolithic, procedural, RPC — still needed in many scenarios

– Other ways to connect loosely coupled systems: WSRP, RSS

– Portals offer many different ways to connect systems

– Web 2.0 will introduce even other ways to connect: "SOA 2.0"

Bottom line: Portals can be "as SOA as you want them to be."

Page 3: Portals: The Original SOA Framework

Etc…HR Customer ServiceFinance

Vision of the Service-Oriented Enterprise

LegacyLogic

& Data

Services

OrchestratedProcesses

HR Legacy App

Finance Legacy App

CSS Legacy App LOB App

Logic DataDataData

Logic LogicLogic

Data

Logic

Data

Service

Service

Service

Service

Process Model

HR

Process Model

Across HR andFinance

Process Model

Budgeting

Process Model

Customer Service #1

Process Model

CustomerService #2

Service Service

Page 4: Portals: The Original SOA Framework

Service Orientation: An ArchitecturalPattern for Distributed Computing

Services are

– Autonomous units of business function

– Connected over distributed network

– Contracted with respect to interface

– Coupled loosely rather than tightly

– Independent of platform, toolset, methodology, geography

– Discoverable via registry

– Standards-based, in the modern incarnation of SOA

Services are not (just)

– Components – Services are a type of component• Loosely coupled, coarse-grain, standards-based

– Objects – Services are "less than" objects (and this is a good thing)• Objects have state, are designed for fine-grain interaction

• Services can be composed of objects

Page 5: Portals: The Original SOA Framework

Why Bother With SOA?

Moving to SOA requires architects to – Rethink modularity

– Refactor and repartition systems

– Specify contracts, interfaces

– Wrap legacy systems

– Set up system monitoring and management

– Look at security in a new way

Service orientation has value because it:– Allows existing information systems to

better tolerate change (that is, evolution-friendly)

– Enables the organization to rapidly assemble new applications to support new processes and meet new requirements (greater agility)

– Fosters reuse of code and components (improves developer productivity)

– Reduces skill requirements for creating new applicationfunctionality (helps reduce the IT backlog)

Page 6: Portals: The Original SOA Framework

Six Generations of Portal Technology:It Is Still About Aggregation and Integration

Gen 3 (Mid-2002-2003)Process integration Knowledge mgmt.Multiple portal spt. Web servicesAdv. personalization Federated search

Gen 1 (1998-2000)Content mgmt./aggregationSearch/categorizationPersonalizationLightweight application framework

Gen 2 (2000-Mid-2002)Application integration

CollaborationMobile and wireless Mgmt.

tools

ProcessIntegration

ProcessIntegration

Application/DataIntegration

Information Access/Content Aggregation

Gen 4 (2004-Mid-2005)Advanced Web services Multichannel interactionComposite applications Personal contentMicrosites JSR168 & WSRP

Generation 5 (Mid-2005-2007)SOBA/PIP/PCA support OrchestrationAdvanced collaboration User experience mgt.WSRP V2 & JSR286 Portal as services

Gen 6 (2008-2009)Portal ubiquityUser-managed portal

aggregation (client-based/server-based/hosted)

Peer portal federation

Page 7: Portals: The Original SOA Framework

Portals Connect to Systems in Many WaysPortlets, RSS, Subsystem Services, Application Integration

ExternalSystems & Services

Portal

Portlet Container

ApplicationIntegration Layer

PersonalizationEngine

Portlets

User & SystemAdmin.

SearchEngine

Workflow/Process Orchestration

Access Control & Identity Mgt.

Portlets

Portlets

ExternalSystems & Services

ExternalSystems & Services

ExternalSystems & Services

ExternalSystems & Services

ExternalSystems & Services

ExternalSystems & Services

Page 8: Portals: The Original SOA Framework

Multiple Portals Comprise a New LegacyThat Incoming Portals Must Deal With

Portal

Container

App. Integration

Personal-ization

Portlets

User/SysAdmin.

Search

Workflow/Process Orchestration

Identity Mgmt.

Portlets

Portlets

Portal

Container

App. Integration

Personalizatio

n

Portlets

User/Sys

Admin.

Search

Workflow/Process Orchestration

Identity Mgt.

Portlets

Portlets

Portal

Container

App. Integration

Personalizatio

n

Portlets

User/Sys

Admin.

Search

Workflow/Process Orchestration

Identity Mgt.

Portlets

Portlets

Portal

Container

App. Integration

Personal-ization

Portlets

User/Sys

Search

Workflow/Process

Identity Mgmt.

Portlets

Portlets

Apps

Apps

Apps

Apps

Apps

Apps

Shared Infrastructure

Page 9: Portals: The Original SOA Framework

The Promise of WSRP Was External, but Value Thus Far Is Internally Facing Interoperability

External Service

Enterprise

Another J2EE Portal

WSRP Wrapper

J2EE Portal

JSR 168 Portlet

WSRP Portlet

Native Portlet

.NET Portal

WSRP Portlet

WSRP Portlet

Native Portlet

Remote Portlet Instances

JSR 168 Portlet

ProprietaryAPI

Native Portlet Generic WSRPProtocol

External Service

External Service

Generic WSRP

Protocol

Proprietary

API

Proprietary

API

Page 10: Portals: The Original SOA Framework

JSR168: Long Awaited Standard,Now Evolving to JSR286

The Fragmented Past

– Almost all portals built on a common technology foundationof Java/J2EE, servlets, JSP, XML, and (increasingly) Web services

– Fragmentation above common layer due to diverse portlet APIs

– Market fragmentation: many vendors with similar market shares

The Stagnant Present

– JSR168 is cross-vendor standard but limited in scope

– All vendors support it but none is strategically committed

The Slow-Moving Future

– Efforts to address JSR168 limitations underway

– "Turning the crank" will eventually produce a result

Recommendation for Portal Customers

– JSR168 and its successor, JSR286, should be default choice(with appropriate exceptions)

Page 11: Portals: The Original SOA Framework

Subsystems in Portal Can BeFirst-Class Services

Portlets are not the only pointsof contact between portalsand external systems

Subsystems (such as search engine) can also be exposed externally

External systems can be apps.or even other portals

These subsystems can have conventional APIs or alternatively service-oriented interfaces

Portal vendors are just starting to refactor their packages Similar to how business app vendors are refactoring applications

as services This unlocks what is a major source of hidden value in portals

Page 12: Portals: The Original SOA Framework

Enterprise Enterprise

Orchestration in and Outside the Portal

HostEngines &

Middleware

ExecutableProcesses

& Workflows

AbstractProcessModels

BPM/Workflow

Engine

Process Model

.

Portal

Process Model

.

Process Model

.

Process Model

.

Process Model

.

Process Model

.

Process Model

.

Process Model

.

BPM/Workflow

Engine

Process Model

.

Portal

Process Model

.

Page 13: Portals: The Original SOA Framework

The Vision of Portal-Based DevelopmentTactical Strategic Portal-Based

Code reuse low to medium low to medium highApproach tool-driven model-driven parameter-driven

Business driver opportunistic systematic eitherRequirements simple complex simple

Scope departmental enterprise eitherSkills junior developer senior developer business analyst

Team size 1 to 6 6 to 60+ 1 to 3Code longevity 6 months to 3 years 2 years to 10+ years indefinite

Budget small to medium large smallMethodology informal formal, systematic informal

Risk tolerance high low mediumProject duration 1 to 6 months 6 months to 6 years 1 to 6 weeksConnectedness low to medium medium high

Code refactoring low low mediumIntegration use low medium high

Page 14: Portals: The Original SOA Framework

Portal Deployments Evolvein Parallel with Technology

1996 2000 2004 2008 2010

Access to content Access to content (via search & personalization)(via search & personalization)

Access to apps. Access to apps. (via single sign-on)(via single sign-on)

Platform for new apps.Platform for new apps.

Access to apps Access to apps (via app. integration)(via app. integration)

Composite apps.Composite apps.

Adaptive apps.Adaptive apps.

Le

vel o

f B

us

ine

ss

Tra

nsf

orm

ati

on

Web

S

ervi

ces

Web

S

ervi

ces

Page 15: Portals: The Original SOA Framework

Enterprise Portals and the Open Internet

Enterprise

Portal

PortalPortal

Enterprise

Portal

PortalPortal

Enterprise Sector

SOAP / Web ServicesSOAP / Web Services

WSRPWSRP

Content Aggregation ServiceContent Aggregation Service

Shared Metadata ServiceShared Metadata Service

Distributed Identity ServiceDistributed Identity ServiceProprietary ProtocolsProprietary Protocols

Open Internet

BloggingService

GroupCalendar

HostedERP App

ContentService

VerticalService

SharedContent

RSS / AtomRSS / Atom

RESTREST

Page 16: Portals: The Original SOA Framework

Web 2.0 Wave Washes Over the EnterpriseEnterprises Will Adopt the Least Important Aspects First

Degree of

EnterpriseAdoption

TechnologyTechnology

BusinessImpact

Moral: High adoption does not necessarily mean high impact .

Ajax

RSS

User-DerivedMetadata

UserContent

Decentralized

Non-Non-TechnologyTechnology

ParticipatoryOpenness

Simplicity

REST

Mashups

Page 17: Portals: The Original SOA Framework

The Value Proposition of SOA is Kept or Enhanced:Increased Agility and Evolvability

Web 2.0/"SOA 2.0"Web 1.0/SOA 1.0

Web 2.0 Pushes SOA in New Directions

Platform: .NET or Java/J2EE

SOAP and WS-* Thin browser

or fat client Single server/farm Loosely coupled Application data Individual transaction Business development

Platform: LAMP Lightweight REST Ajax-enabled browser

or mobile phone Distributed servers Even more loosely

coupled User-contributed data

and metadata Social interaction Community development

Page 18: Portals: The Original SOA Framework

Ajax Catches Fire at the Surface LevelEasy to Add Snippets, Hard to Re-Factor for Full Framework

What is Ajax? The latest fashion in Web design– Asynchronous transfers – page elements load in background– JavaScript/DHTML – client-side processing more responsive

Examples of Ajax-based sites– Google Gmail, Google Maps,

Flickr, Basecamp, TiddlyWiki– Pioneers: Outlook in 1998,

Desktop.com in 1999 Real effectiveness comes

when combined with– Innovations in usability– Server-side processing

The "Portal Paradox"– Portals viewed as app front-ends– But UI designers face complex inflexible frameworks if you stray – Ajax will have limited scope (snippets and widgets) in the near-term

Page 19: Portals: The Original SOA Framework

Software Architecture as an Unintended Consequence of Social Architecture

Context The structure of a system reflects the structure of the organization that

built it. An organization with constrained lines of communication may build

systems that don't interoperate and are difficult to monitor. Attempts to change or improve the structure of the system are often

reversed by forces which snap the system back to its original shape (this can be good or bad).

In the case of dysfunctional organizations, it can mean a continual struggle against design defects (bugs and performance issues).

Solution To fix or refactor the software artifact, refactor or restructure the

organization that created it. Of course, this can be very difficult. Examine and cultivate process attributes: collaborative, community-based,

transparent, repeatable and efficient. Implications for SOA and Web 2.0: Will the "tail wag the dog"?

Page 20: Portals: The Original SOA Framework

Recommendations

Keep in mind that portal technology is multi-faceted andcan support different kinds of architectural approaches,from tight (non-SOA) to loosely coupled (SOA and more).

Consider SOA as just one approach to modularityand connected systems.

When building connected systems, pick and chooseamong the different capabilities in portal: portlets usinghigh-performance custom APIs, standards-based portlets, RSS-based syndication, composite app capability, etc.

Prepare for the Web 2.0 wave, which introducesnew approaches to platforms and processes.

Be ready to re-evaluate and re-factor your process and organizational structure, not just technology and products.

Page 21: Portals: The Original SOA Framework

Notes accompany this presentation. Please select Notes Page view. These materials can be reproduced only with Gartner's official approval. Such approvals may be requested via e-mail — [email protected].

Portals: The Original SOA Framework

Ray Valdes