Recent years have seen a rise in the use of service-oriented architecture (SOA) technologies and integration. SOA is defined as “‘services’ that provide a platform by which disparate systems can communicate with each other.”
Industry expert David Sprott said it best: “SOA is not just an architecture of services seen from a technology perspective, but the policies, practices and frameworks by which we ensure the right services are provided and consumed.”
Further clarification of the term service can help people better grasp what SOA architecture really is. In this case, the term services is used to symbolize the building blocks that are used to keep information organized. These building blocks are specifically organized in groupings that that are familiar to the users. Additionally, the building blocks work to bring data about users and user behavior together in a single interface.