This book demonstrates service-oriented architecture (SOA) as a concrete discipline rather than a hopeful collection of cloud charts. Built upon the author's firsthand experience rolling out a SOA at a major corporation, "SOA in Practice" explains how SOA can simplify the creation and maintenance of large-scale applications. Whether your project involves a large set of Web Services-based components, or connects legacy applications to modern business processes, this book clarifies how -- and whether -- SOA fits your needs. SOA has been a vision for years. This book brings it down to earth by describing the real-world problems of implementing and running a SOA in practice. After defining SOA's many facets, examining typical use patterns, and exploring how loose coupling helps build stronger applications, "SOA in Practice" presents a framework to help you determine when to take advantage of SOA. In this book you will: Focus squarely on real deployment and technology, not just standards mapsExamine business problems to determine which ones fit a SOA approach before plastering a SOA solution on top of themFind clear paths for building solutions without getting trapped in the mire of changing web services detailsGain the experience of a systems analyst intimately involved with SOA "The principles and experiences described in this book played an important role in making SOA at T-Mobile a success story, with more than 10 million service calls per day." --Dr. Steffen Roehn, Member of the Executive Committee T-Mobile International (CIO) "Nicolai Josuttis has produced something that is rare in the over-hyped world of SOA; a thoughtful work with deep insights based on hands-on experiences. This book is a significant milestone in promoting practical disciplines for all SOA practitioners." --John Schmidt, Chairman, Integration Consortium "The book belongs in the hands of every CIO, IT Director and IT planning manager." --Dr. Richard Mark Soley, Chairman and CEO, Object Management Group; Executive Director, SOA Consortium