Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) reflects a particularly flexible architecture style of IT infrastructures. Services are provided centrally and combined according to business requirements. In this way, you can perform processes more quickly and reduce operational costs, securing a competitive advantage.
On the other hand, Business Process Management (BPM) solutions are used to automate internal processes within your organization and develop flows with business partners. Oracle is a leading provider of such services, platforms and tools, and many software developers use SOA Suite and Oracle BPM while building custom applications for clients.
From my experience working in a bespoke software development company specializing in Oracle Fusion Middleware, I can see the major business value of correctly built infrastructure, precise integration and on-point process management for our clients, who we see as partners.
Some of the leading reasons for companies to prefer to switch to Oracle SOA Suite is that it helps them overcome today’s complexity and dynamics of ever-evolving global markets through modularity, flexibility and reusability of composite apps and business processes.
Without further ado, let’s see the basics of Oracle SOA Suite and BPM development services:
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What Exactly is Oracle SOA Suite
Oracle SOA Suite is a middleware fusion technology, a separate middle software layer, similar to a web server or a database, that is located between other applications and glues or fuses them together. The initial components of some applications often lack the design allowing them to communicate with one another. That’s why they need a special middleware to bridge the gap and enable these components to “speak” to one another and run simultaneously.
Oracle SOA Suite 12c is the newest version that integrates cloud, mobile, on-demand, and IoT (Internet of Things) applications on a single platform, resulting in faster integration times, more productivity, and reduced costs.
Some of the main components of the suite include design, deployment and management of composite applications, combining multiple existing functions that use business data sources.
Perhaps one of the most fundamental components is OSB (Oracle Service Bus), which helps to connect and manage different services and assists the data integration. The real-life use cases could vary from ERP or HCM integration to connected CRM software to coordinate a seamless customer experience.
Main Benefits of SOA Suite
The rapid adoption of cloud-based applications by many leading and aspiring companies calls for the use of Oracle SOA Suite or similar middleware fusion services. Coupled with the desire of companies to integrate applications with mobile technologies, it dramatically increases the complexity of application integration, and Oracle SOA Suite helps address this challenge.
With its focus on implementing the SCA (Service Component Architecture) assembly model, Oracle SOA Suite provides you with the opportunity to conveniently reuse your business logic, separating it into service components that can be integrated within SCA-compliant software applications, aka SOA composite applications.
The vital benefits of composite apps are increased productivity, flexibility, services invocation and easier maintenance and debugging processes.
For example, when applied to B2B applications, business partners have a secure way of exchanging essential transactions and data. Besides, business activity monitoring offers decision-makers the ability to monitor business processes and events on the spot as soon as they occur, contributing to increased service availability.
What Exactly is Oracle BPM
Most corporate software apps are designed to execute a wide array of intertwined business tasks. However, monitoring and managing the activity and performance of hundreds of smaller applications can get extra hard for in-house IT teams.
That is why good software developers advise enterprises to use business process management software. Essentially, Oracle BPM is a customizable software application that facilitates the creation, execution, automation, monitoring and optimisation of business processes.
Software developers can model and visualise a wide array of business processes using Oracle BPM. However, we need employees who are willing to commit to managing specific tasks since successful process management does not happen by itself.
This is where BPM Worklist the responsibilities and clearly assigned roles come into play with different functionalities based on the user profile. The main intention behind the role division is two-folded. On the one hand, they are designed to ensure seamless process management. On the other, they are meant to boost traceability, productivity and accountability for existing processes.
How are BPM and SOA Composites Related?
Keeping in mind the sheer process complexity of some businesses, we can imagine that most company executives would want to have one main application that synchronizes and monitors ongoing workflow. SOA composites (an assembly of many services) are one way to avoid this.
So, what do Oracle SOA and BPM have in common? The short answer is that business process management is based on the SOA technology. The composites are utilised to contain information describing the connection between various components in your organisation’s BPM project, responsible employees and the running services.
However, a more recent trend that has its roots in BPM is process mining – a technology for the systematic analysis and evaluation of business processes. Its logic is relatively simple – as soon as a process is executed, all necessary transaction data is saved in a log file.
For example, vendor-provided data about the duration of the individual activities, the total lead time, or the exact path that the user follows in the process may be of interest. With the help of process mining, businesses can determine the digital footprints of any particular process and evaluate its practical use and value on a company level.
Main Benefits of Oracle BPM
The practical benefits of reliable BPM solutions are numerous. For starters, Oracle BPM Suite provides business analysts with a powerful collaboration tool for modelling and implementing complex business processes. Setting up business rules, assigning human tasks and running simulation are among the key value drivers of a BPM solution.
An example of a Sales Quote for a project is given in the official Oracle documentation: sales representatives, approvers, business procedures, and contracts. They’re all in charge of distinct jobs along the swimlane (the horizontal line that runs across the editor) and automating triggers for multiple process events.
With its powerful analytical capabilities, Oracle BPM allows you to gradually embrace and integrate process orientation within your organization, ensuring process predictability and orchestration and achieving higher business performance.
Author Biography Aleksandrina Vasileva
Aleksandrina is a Content Creator at Dreamix, a custom software development company, and is keen оn innovative technological solutions with a positive impact on our world. Her teaching background, mixed with interests in psychology, drives her to share knowledge. She is an avid reader and an enthusiastic blogger, always looking for the next inspiration.
