Term Paper: The Service-Oriented Architecture

Term Paper: The Service-Oriented Architecture
Due Week 10 and worth 160 points

The Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) strategy allows businesses and organizations to offer their products and services to customers and trading partners using a standards-based integration protocol. Web Services depends on SOA for delivery. SOA uses Extensible Markup Language (XML) to exchange data and information to its products and services consumers. One of the SOA characteristics is that the integration is loosely coupled, thus simplifying integration.

Write an eight to ten (8-10) page paper in which you:

1. Analyze five (5) ways in which SOA reduces the total cost of ownership (TCO). 
2. Examine five (5) ways in which using XML enables data and information exchange between clients and servers using Web Services in an SOA environment.
3. Compare and contrast the loosely coupled architecture to a tightly coupled architecture in terms of TCO, maintenance, and implementation issues.
4. Analyze three (3) advantages and three (3) disadvantages of using a standards-based integration strategy.
5. Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources. 

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Explain the benefits and risks of service oriented architecture.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the integration of enterprise systems with inter-organizational partners.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in enterprise architecture.
• Write clearly and concisely about enterprise architecture topics using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions.

Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic / organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.

Click here to view the grading rubric for this assignment.