SOA Day 2 - SOA Mindshift - Function over form Process over procedure

Day 1 - Connections = Cost to Connections = Value

Day 2 in the series of SOA mindshifts we need to make in order to ensure a successful SOA architecture.

From Function Oriented to Process Oriented. Thinking about functions is usually easier since that is what we break things down to from a development process. The subroutines that pull together a function makes it possible for us to take things in smaller chunks. Functions though are not what provides a business with value. Any paticular function is only valuable if it enables the business processes in which it sits. If we can make ourselves think about the process rather than sub-optimizing on the functions we can drive a better overall solution because we see the bigger picture.

This point hits many different areas. If we consider logging as an example we would rather know that a process path for booking has gone down than that a specific function within that path has gone down. With the information at the business process level we are able to know what other business processes are impacted. As technologists we want to know what piece is breaking but really that is part of the detail of fixing the problem... the business wants to know impact. Other areas are similarly impacted.

Another benefit of this mindset change is that we will naturally start to take a few steps back when modeling out problems. In the "can't see the forrest for the trees" sense it becomes easier to see the forrest because we are looking at the process and how the trees interact rather than studying the bark and how it is brown. Focusing the whole picture is important for many reasons.