Service oriented architecture (SOA) is a major technology trend focused on making corporate information technology (IT) an enabler of business flexibility and innovation. While SOA is not the unique province of any single vendor, IBM has taken a leadership position in the industry and is actively helping organizations in many industries be successful with SOA. This book will help you migrate your existing computing infrastructure in the direction of a service oriented architecture using IBM technology and services. In Exploring IBM SOA Technology and Practice, IBM SOA expert Bobby Woolf explores IBM's vision for success with SOA. Woolf starts by describing the reasons an organization should consider adopting SOA. Issues and challenges faced once you decide to adopt SOA are examined. Guidance is given on how to prepare, select good SOA projects, and how to structure a committee to manage all SOA projects in an organization. Woolf then moves in for a closer look at the nuts and bolts of SOA including the IBM SOA Reference Architecture, the suite of IBM products/services (e.g., IBM WebSphere) used to implement that architecture, and SOA application development practices. Vital topics such as lifecycle management and governance are covered. At the "Member's Only" Web site, you will find direct links to a rich array of SOA videos, Webcasts, white papers, and other SOA resources to help your projects succeed. This book is a key resource for IT professionals and business people who work closely with IT and want to learn how to use SOA to make their corporations more successful and it shows how they can work with IBM to achieve that success.