IDS Scheer announced support for the OASIS SOA Reference Model used in tandem with ARIS SOA Architect. The structure and management of a business process-oriented service landscape requires close cooperation between specialized departments and IT within companies. IDS Scheer has leveraged its expanded methodology for Business-Driven SOA into developing comprehensive support for describing, planning and managing services — designed specifically for this type of collaboration within an organization. The new methodology, based on the OASIS SOA Reference Model, categorizes services using business criteria with a concentration on those with the greatest strategic importance – the end result is mitigation of risks within SOA projects.

OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) is a not-for-profit consortium that drives the development, convergence and adoption of open standards for the global information society. The consortium produces more Web services standards than any other organization along with standards for security, e-business, and standardization efforts in the public sector and for application-specific markets.

SOA projects are designed to help companies become more flexible to react to changes in the market. With the new reference model, these projects can now be achieved directly without moving from pillar to post because the development and management of the services work in conjunction with the relevant business unit. The technical specification of individual services within a SOA is a new feature and it ensures the continuing provision of target-oriented service development in IT and subsequent service reuse.

This methodology is fully integrated into ARIS SOA Architect. Existing models for describing IT landscapes and web services can be reused, thus securing investments and enabling service orientation and Enterprise Architecture measures to work together. ARIS SOA Architect reduces implementation costs considerably because redundant implementations within a service are compiled, thereby producing an efficient service architecture. If a service fails, alternative implementations can be identified with ease.

Dr. Wolfram Jost, Member of the Executive Board with responsibility for Product Strategy and Development of IDS Scheer comments: “ARIS SOA Architect ensures that there is an overall business-oriented approach. Service descriptions are now purposely aimed at the requirements of specialist departments and organization experts, who can now assist in the design of the service-oriented company and realize the full potential of a SOA. SOA is becoming a key driving force for the sustainable improvement of a company’s entire business performance.”