Introduction to SOA Cloud Service
For many years, the Oracle Fusion Middleware Stack has included Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). SOA Suite has established itself as the solution of choice for achieving all types of on-premises integrations, as well as a comprehensive toolset for enabling them, with features such as Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) Process Manager, Service Bus, Mediator, Business Rules, Business Activity Monitoring (BAM), and others all running on WebLogic Server (WLS) since version 11g.
SOA rebuilt itself after its initial generation and gained traction in the IT mainstream. In this sense, despite Oracle’s shift into a Cloud-first company, SOA Suite has remained relevant; so much so that, within a year, we’ve seen the release of a 12c version, and Integration Cloud Service (ICS) built on top of it, and now the delivery of a full-fledged SOA Suite Cloud Service.
SOA Cloud Service Overview
This is a pretty broad definition for a cloud-based solution, where Oracle has positioned ICS as a lightweight and simple choice; nonetheless, the need for cloud integration grows by the day, leaving plenty of potential for much more. So that’s where SOA Cloud Service comes in, providing a ready-to-use platform for executing not only the core SOA-Infra and Service Bus functionality, but also API Manager, a relatively new and highly valuable addition to the Fusion Middleware stack.
Let’s have a look at what’s included in this first release of SOA Cloud.
- Oracle SOA Suite
- Oracle Cloud Adapters
- B2B
- MFT
- Event Processing
- Oracle Service Bus
- Oracle Technology Adapters
SOA Cloud Service’s Most Important Use Cases
The SOA Cloud Service is the newest IPaaS descendant, but with the expanding number of Cloud Services, it’s important to understand where the SOA CS stands out. Let’s have a look at some examples of appropriate applications. In the following main use cases, the SOA Cloud Service excels:
- Cloud sandbox (including Dev/Test) environments
- Lift and shift workloads from on-premises to the cloud
- SOA applications born on the cloud can be developed quickly.
- Integration and orchestration of hybrid clouds.
The role does SOA Cloud Service play in terms of ICS and PCS
SOA Cloud Service’s use case can be confused with Integration Cloud Service’s, and the two may overlap even more in the future. Let’s have a look at both Cloud Services and see which one is the best in specific situations.
Integration Cloud Service
When the majority of your integrations are between cloud-based applications and you have little (to no) requirement for on-premises or between on-premises applications, ICS is the way to go. When integrations and mappings are simple, ICS is ideal. Usually, the emphasis is on quick integration. Keep in mind that each ICS connection is limited to 100,000 messages per hour, which includes both sending and receiving messages. If your use case is going to be more than this number interests you might want to take a look at SOA Cloud Service.
Processing Cloud Service
The Process Cloud Service (PCS) is ideal for quickly automating corporate operations in the Cloud, such as internal travel and expenditure management. PCS is not a cloud-based BPM Suite and cannot be compared to it. PCS allows you to design business-friendly forms in a self-service environment that includes mobile capabilities out of the box. It has tooling and run-time for process design, execution, monitoring, and optimization, however, it lacks adaptive case management and custom scripting features. PCS can connect to the cloud and on-premises apps using ICS and SOA CS.
If you are interested to build your career in SOA Cloud Service, then check out Oracle SOA Training
Conclusion
Oracle has two excellent cloud services: Oracle SOA Cloud Service and Oracle API Management Cloud Services. Both reaffirm Oracle’s dominance in the market, particularly in the SOA arena. There is little doubt that Oracle will compete in the API business.
It’s great to have such a robust SOA platform in the Cloud. This Oracle product is fantastic for those of us who always face issues integrating on-premises with Cloud-based applications, Cloud-to-Cloud interaction, or even challenges where customers are seeking a true SOA solution in the Cloud. This subscription option for SOA Suite in the Cloud is huge for Dev and Test environments. We’ve worked on large projects where the sole goal was to install the product. Installing a couple of domains could take weeks, not because of the difficulty of the procedure, but because of the HW provisioning, network adjustments, operative system installation and tuning, database provisioning, security, and so on. Now, all you need is a browser and a few mice clicks to have a ready-to-use environment.
This is a significant change for SOA Developers and Architects, as well as a significant chance to continue to specialize in this dynamic SOA field.
API Management should be a natural progression for an Oracle SOA expert. However, it’s critical to know the differences between an API strategy and an SOA strategy, as well as who we’ll pitch API Management, SOA Governance, or both to.
The SOA specialist has emerged as a critical member of the IT team. The common denominator for API management, mobile, cloud projects, traditional integration projects, innovative projects, strategic initiatives, and digital transformation projects might very simply be SOA and API management. Furthermore, as a whole new world of technological innovation continues to emerge before our eyes, the prospect of having SOA projects that are born, evolve, and remain wholly in the Cloud speaks for itself.
About Author
Zaid is a graduate who has been contributing technical content to Mindmajix for the past year. He is enthusiastic about learning new things about technology breakthroughs that contribute to a higher quality of life. His essays are primarily focused on the most recent global developments.
