In our earlier "SOA for Datacenter" article, we have discussed why you may consider a holistic datacenter optimization solution, what are the benefits and what you need to consider when implementing it.
During number of follow up discussions I have had with clients and colleagues, I was often asked the following question: "Where is the SOA in this solution?"
Let's assume you are an outsourcing company. Your core business is to implement and operate business applications in your datecentre(s) for your clients. Your profit consists of the difference of the amount of money charged to your clients less your expenditures. You have two options how to increase your profit margins. The first option is to charge your clients more money, the latter is to spend less; or a combination of both.
Since your business is to provide (in simple terms) an IT environment on which their core applications can be run, your business processes are tightly aligned with specific services, such as:
- increase storage capacity
- provide a web server
- add tables to a database
- increase computing capacity
These are your "business services" and, therefore, you need to be able to align your infrastructure around these services. The data center optimization will help you being more effective in providing these services to your clients. That's where the SOA is in the SOA for Datacenter.
