Overview

A service-oriented architecture can be part of a wider enterprise architecture. In this chapter, we will look at beliefs about enterprise architectures and how a service-oriented architecture helps resolve some issues related to those beliefs. Beliefs about enterprise architectures have often been the reason that many attempts at implementing such enterprise architectures have fallen short of expectations. Some common beliefs are reviewed.

This chapter does not define a new way of developing enterprise architectures. It shows how aspects of a service-oriented architecture augment enterprise architecture methodologies and frameworks. An important point is how, within an enterprise architectural framework, certain beliefs can trip you up and how a service-oriented architecture can mitigate the effect of those beliefs. At the end of this chapter, there is a summary of the advantages of using service-oriented architectures as part of an enterprise architecture.