企业应用SOA的10大要素

BUYINGINFRASTRUCTURETOACCOMPLISHENTERPRISEAPPLICATIONGOALS:ADISCUSSIONOFKEYCONSIDERATIONS

BUSINESSWHITE PAPER

COPYRIGHT

Copyright?2004BEASystems,Inc.AllRightsReserved.

November,2004

RESTRICTEDRIGHTSLEGEND

Thisdocumentmaynot,inwholeorinpart,bephotocopied,reproduced,translated,orreducedtoanyelectronicmediumormachinereadableformwithoutpriorconsent,inwriting,fromBEASystems,Inc.InformationinthisdocumentissubjecttochangewithoutnoticeanddoesnotrepresentacommitmentonthepartofBEASystems,Inc.

TRADEMARKS

BEA,BuiltonBEA,Jolt,Joltbeans,Steelthread,TopEnd,Tuxedo,BEAWebLogicServer,BEALiquidDataforWebLogic,andWebLogicareregisteredtrademarksofBEASystems,Inc.BEAdev2devSubscriptions,BEAeLink,BEAMessageQ,BEAWebLogicEnterprisePlatform,BEAWebLogicEnterpriseSecurity,BEAWebLogicExpress,BEAWebLogicIntegration,BEAWebLogicJavaAdapterforMainframe,

BEAWebLogicJDriver,BEAWebLogicLogCentral,BEAWebLogicPlatform,BEAWebLogicPortal,

BEAWebLogicJRockit,BEAWebLogicWorkGroupEdition,andBEAWebLogicWorkshoparetrademarksofBEASystems,Inc.BEAMissionCriticalSupportisaservicemarkofBEASystems,Inc.Allothercompanyandproductnamesmaybethesubjectofintellectualpropertyrightsreservedbythirdparties.

CWP0832E1204-1A

IIBEAWHITEPAPER–

BUYIN

GINFRASTRUCTURETOACCOMPLISHENTERPRISEAPPLICATION

GOALS:

ADISCUSSION

OFKEYCON

SIDERATION

S

CONTENTS

ExecutiveSummary..........................................................1

KeyConsideration#1:InitialApplicationRequirements...............................2

Functionality:WhattheApplicationDoes........................................2

FitWithApplicationServerOnly............................................3

FitWithAdditionalPortal,Integration,andDataAccessServices.....................5

Audience:WhotheApplicationisFor .........................................14

Architecture:HowtheApplicationWillBeBuilt .................................15

TimeToMarket:WhentheApplicationNeedsToBeinProduction ...................17

KeyConsideration#2:OperationalRequirements...................................18Administration:WhoNeedsAuthoritytoDoWhat?...............................18Management:HowtheApplicationPlaysWithOtherApplications....................19Upgrades:WhattheApplicationNeedstoDoNext...............................21

KeyConsideration#3:OrganizationalRequirements.................................23Portability:HowtheEnterpriseViewsStandards..................................23DeveloperSkillSet:WhotheCompanyHires...................................24DeploymentFlexibility:WhereApplicationsareDeployed...........................25

TheBEAWebLogicPlatform..................................................26

Service-OrientedArchitecture..................................................28

Conclusion................................................................30

AboutBEA ...............................................................30

BEAWHITEPAPER–BUYIN

GIN FRASTRUCTURETOACCOMPLISHENTERPRISEAPPLICATION

GOALS:

III

ADISCUSSION

OFKEYCON

SIDERATION

S

EXECUTIVESUMMARY

ThiswhitepaperprovidesITmanagersanddirectorswithastructuredguideforthinkingaboutthe

softwarerequirementsofenterpriseapplicationprojectsIn.colloquialterms,thispaperisdesignedto

helpITprofessionalshashoutthe

“buildproblem:whatversusbuy

functionality”

andapplicationsare

bestdeliveredwithcustom-off-the-shelf(COTS)software,andwhatfunctionalityisbestdeliveredvia

application-agnosticinfrastructure?Ratherthanpresentingthe

question“buildasversusabuy

”

dichotomy,however,thispaperphrasesthe

“infrastructureversusquestionCOTSasamatter”of

determiningwherealongaspectrumofdifferenttechnologyoptionsoneshouldchoosetodevelopa

givensetoffunctions.

Thespectrumofinfrastructureoptionsavailableforaccomplishingenterpriseapplicationgoalsranges

frombuildinganapplicationfromscratchtobuyingapackaged(COTS)applicationasaproductor

service.Thispaperwillfocusprimarilyontheareabetweentheseextremes

—developingap

onanapplicationserveronlyvs.usingadditionalinfrastructure

—becausethatiswheremuchofthe

debateliestoday.

FIGURE1

Thespectrumofoptionsfor

accomplishingenterpriseapplication

goalsgoesfrombuildingan

applicationfromscratchtobuying

apackagedapplicationasaproduct

orservice.

BEAWHITEPAPER–BUYIN

GINFRASTRUCTURETOACCOMPLISHENTERPRISEAPPLICATION

GOALS:

1

ADISCUSSION

OFKEYCON

SIDERATION

S

Althoughthe“buildversusdecisionbuy”isatechnicalone,thispaperframesthetechnicalconsiderationsintermsoftheunderlyingbusinessrequirementsofagivenapplicationAccordingly,.thisisabusiness-oriented,nottechnical,whitepaperthataimstoprovideastructurallyconsistentway

toanswerthequestion“Givenaparticularsetoffunctionalrequirements,whatsoftwaretechnologiesshouldIbeusing?Managers”mustconsiderseveralkeyfactorshere:

> Initialapplicationrequirements,includingwhatanapplicationwilldo,whoitisfor,whowillbuildit,andwhenitmustbeinproduction.

> Operationalrequirements,includingwhoneedsauthoritytodowhat,howtheapplicationwillbemanaged,andhowfunctionalityneedsmaychangeinthefuture.

>Organizationalrequirements, includinghowstandardizedthefunctionalitymustbe,what

developerresourcesareavailable,andwheretheapplicationwillbedeployed.

Thispaperconsiderseachissueinturn,highlightingsignalsthatindicatethebesttechnologyrouteforamanagertotake,basedonprojectrequirements.

KEYCONSIDERATION#1:

INITIALAPPLICATION

REQUIREMENTS

Todeterminetheappropriateinfrastructureforagivenproject,thefirstconsiderationsaretheapplication’sfunctionality,audience,architecture,andtime-to-marketdeadline.Thissectionbreaksdowneachrequirementtohelpamanagerthinkthroughwhatsortofinfrastructurebestmatcheshis

orherproject ’sneeds.

FUNCTIONALITY: WHATTHE APPLICATION DOES

Todeterminewhatinfrastructureanapplicationneeds,onemustfirstaskwhattheapplicationismeanttodo.Sometypesofapplicationsinvolvefunctionalitybestbuiltonanapplicationserver,whereasothersinvolvefunctionalitythatcanbebuiltfasterandatalowertotalcostusingadditionalpackagedinfrastructureservices.Thissectionfirstdiscussestypesofapplicationsthatapplicationserversalonesatisfy,andthenturnstoapplicationsbetteraddressedbyadditionalportal,integration,anddataaccessservices.

2 BEAWHITEPAPER–BUYIN

GINFRASTRUCTURETOACCOMPLISHENTERPRISEAPPLICATION

GOALS:

ADISCUSSION

OFKEYCON

SIDERATION

S

FITWITHAPPLICATIONSERVERONLY

Thefollowingcharacteristicsaretypicalofapplicationsbuiltonanapplicationserverwithoutusingadditionalinfrastructure:

Theapplicationismostlyself-contained,integratingfewresourcesfromotherexistingsystems.

Theapplicationistransaction-oriented,ratherthancollaborativeinnature.

Theuserinterfaceisrelativelysimple.

Theuserexperienceislargelythesameforallusers.

Twogeneraltypesofapplicationsmaptotheabovecharacteristics:high-volumetransaction-processingapplicationsandsimpleWebapplications.

HIGH-VOLUMETRANSACTION-PROCESSING APPLICATIONS

High-volumetransaction-processingapplicationstypicallysupporthighlyrepetitive,isolatedbusinessprocessesthatrequiredatacapture,processing,androuting,withlittlehumanintervention.Theuser

experiencetypicallyrevolvesaroundviewingtheapplicationoftenviaa’thicksoutput,clientoraswingclientthatpushesupdatestousersdesktops.The’financialservicesandtelecommunicationsindustriesprovidemanyexamples,includingapplicationsforcompletingbankingtransactions,executingbrokeragetrades,scoringcreditapplications,andprocessingphonebillsAll.theseapplicationssharefundamentalfunctionalityrequirements,andaregoodcandidatesforbeingbuiltonanapplicationserver.

High-volumetransaction-processingapplicationsrequireapplication-servercoreservicessuchasdistributedtransactionmanagement,guaranteedmessagedelivery,loadbalancing,failover,connectionpooling,andcaching.RecognizingwidespreadcustomerinterestinbuildingthesehighlyscalableapplicationsonaJ2EEinfrastructure,BEAensuredthatBEAWebLogicServer?wasthebestapplicationserverinthemarketforprocessingahighvolumeoftransactions,asshowninFigure2.

BEAWHITEPAPER–BUYIN

GINFRASTRUCTURETOACCOMPLISHENTERPRISEAPPLICATION

GOALS:

3

ADISCUSSION

OFKEYCON

SIDERATION

S

FIGURE2

CompaniessuchasEurope-based

OmicronnselectBEAWebLogicServer

asthefoundationforhigh-volume

transaction-processingapplications.

Omicronn’sfinancialmessage-

processingapplicationscalestoover

fivemilliontransactionsperhouron

BEAWebLogicServer.

SIMPLEWEB APPLICATIONS

Webapplicationsthataredesignedtoprovidesimilarlayoutsandfeaturestoallusers,thatrequirelittleifanyintegrationwithotherapplications,andthatarelargelyself-containedandstraightforwardtomanage,aregoodcandidatesforbeingbuiltonanapplicationserverAs.anexample,mostcorporateWebsitesnowoffermorethanstaticHTMLpages;manyuseJavaServletsorJavaServerPagestoconnecttodatabases,generatingdynamicinformationandcapturinginformationfromsimpleforms.Despitesuchcomplexity,however,thesesitescanbebuiltusinganapplicationserver,withnoadditionalportalorintegrationcapabilitiesneededLike.high-volumetransaction-processingapplications,thesesitesmostlyrequirethecoreservicesofanapplicationserver,includingdatabaseconnectivity,clustering,loadbalancing,failover,caching,andconnectionpooling.

ThebottomlineisthatalmostanyapplicationcanbebuiltusingonlyanapplicationserverGiven.enoughtimeandexpertise,experiencedJavadeveloperscanthemselvesbuildanyadditionalcapabilitytheyneedontopofanapplicationserverBut.sincetimeandresourcesarealwaysscarce,itoften

makessensetouseadditionalinfrastructureratherthanusingexpensivein-housedeveloperstoreinventcommerciallyavailablefeatures.

4 BEAWHITEPAPER–BUYIN

GINFRASTRUCTURETOACCOMPLISHENTERPRISEAPPLICATION

GOALS:

ADISCUSSION

OFKEYCON

SIDERATION

S

FITWITHADDITIO NALPO RTAL, INTEGRATIO N,ANDDATAACCESSSERVICES

Theemergenceofpackagedportal,integration,anddataaccessservicesparallelstheevolutionofapplicationfunctionalityinthelastfiveyearsAs.statedinanAugust,2004Forresterreport,applicationstodayaremorelikelytobecompositeandtorequireintegrationatmanylevels:

“TheapplicationsthatITdepartmentsinlargeenterprisesdelivertodayaremorebettersophisticated,integrated,

and—atleastintheory—betteralignedwithbusinessneedsthanToday,inapplicationsthepastaremorelikely

tobecomposedofcomponentsthataredistributedacrossmultiplephysicalmachines.Theyarealsomorelikelytrelyonintegrationatnumerouslevels:directlybetweencomponents;aspartofworkflowsandlong-runningtransactions;aselementsofcompositeapplicationsintegratedwithbothservices,custom-builtandexposedinterfaces

1

”

ofpackagedapplicatioands;externallytootherenterprisesWebviaservicesorEAI.

Evolvingenterpriseapplicationrequirements,includingcompositeapplicationassemblyandbusinessprocessintegration,havecreatedademandfornewservicesnotofferedbyapplicationserversStarting.

inthelate1990s,tomeettheirclientsnewapplication’functionalityrequests,in-housedevelopersbeganbuildingportal,integration,anddataaccessservicesontopofapplicationserversasone-offcomponentsofindividualprojects.Today,packagedportal,integration,anddataaccessservicesnowalleviatetheneedfordeveloperstobuildtheseessentialmodernapplicationservicesthemselves,lettingthemfocusonquicklydeliveringvaluetothebusiness.

FIGURE3

Portal,integration,anddataaccess

servicescanclosethegapbetween

businessrequirementsandIT

capabilitiesbyshorteningdevelopment

cycles,increasingreuse,andmaking

useofbroaderdeveloperskillsets.

1.CarleZetie,

“WhyApplicationDevelopmentIsSoHard

—AndHowItMustGetEasier,”Forrester,20August2004.

BEAWHITEPAPER–BUYIN

GINFRASTRUCTURETOACCOMPLISHENTERPRISEAPPLICATION

GOALS:

5

ADISCUSSION OFKEYCON SIDERATION S

Todecidewhethervendor-suppliedportal,integration,anddataaccessproductsacceleratefunctionalitydevelopmentforanenterpriseapplicationproject,managersmustfirstunderstandthekeyservicestheseproductsmakeavailableBEA.’sportal,integration,anddataaccessproductsprovidethefollowingservices:

BEAWebLogicPortal?frameworkservices

Unifieduserprofile.Virtuallyaggregateuserprofileelementsfromothersystems,andusetheresultingunifiedprofiletopersonalizetheapplicationexperience.

Webintegration.ReuseandmodifyexistingWebcontentandapplicationsforuseasportletsinportal-basedapplications.

Contentintegration.Accessexistingcontentrepositoriesforuseinportal-basedapplications.

BEAWebLogicPortalbusinessservices

>Explicitpersonalization.

byusers.

Personalizetheapplicationexperienceusingpreferencesprovided

>Implicit-adaptivepersonalization. Personalizetheapplicationexperiencebasedonauser

behaviororclickstreamwhileinteractingwiththeapplication.

> Rules-basedinteractionmanagement.Targetcontenttousersbasedonattributessuchasusersegmentationorproductsalreadypurchased.

Customization.Givetheusersofportal-basedapplicationstheabilitytocustomizetheir

ownexperiencebyaddingpersonalpagesandchoosingportlets,layouts,andapplication

appearanceControl.accesstoportalresourcesbasedoneachuser ’sdesignatedrole.

Adaptabledelivery.Buildoneportal-basedapplicationasatemplate,thendeliveruniquelybrandedandcustomizedapplicationstomultipleaudiencesbasedonthattemplate.

Contentmanagement.Deployportal-basedapplicationswithbasiccontentmanagementfeatures,includingcontentcreation,versioning,andapproval,withouthavingtopurchaseanenterprisecontentmanagementsystemGive.usersdynamicaccesstocontentfrommultiplecontentrepositories.

Search.Provideuserswithfull-textsearchacrossvirtualrepositoriesofdata,plusanyWeb

content,filesystemdata,XMLcontent,andODBCdata.Userscansearchusingnaturallanguage,documentsimilarity,andwordproximityqueries.

6 BEAWHITEPAPER–BUYIN

GINFRASTRUCTURETOACCOMPLISHENTERPRISEAPPLICATION

GOALS:

ADISCUSSION

OFKEYCON

SIDERATION

S

Commerce.Usesamplecatalog,shoppingcart,andordermanagementobjects,aswellasdocumentedprogramminginterfacesandJSPtaglibraries,toaddcommercefeaturestoanyportal-basedapplication.Providecommerceeventnotificationforshoppingcartchanges,viewing,clicking,andproductpurchases.

Collaboration.Createcollaborativecommunitieswithinportal-basedapplicationsbyprovidingcollaborativeservicessuchasdiscussionforums,whiteboarding,andchat,aswellasintegrationwithMSExchangeandLotusNotes.

BEAWebLogicIntegration?services

Businessprocessmodeling.Build,view,andchangebusinessprocessmodelsandtheirpropertiesinrealtime,usingdrag-and-dropgraphicalconstructionofcomplexbusiness-processscenarios.

Businessprocessautomation.Orchestratesimple,nested,andconcurrentbusinessprocessesthatinvolveprivateprocesses,publicprocesses,humantasks,anderrorhandling.

Webservicesorchestration.MakeimplementedprocessesavailableWebasservicesthatcaninvokeandrespondtootherWebservices.

>Enterpriseapplicationintegration. Linknewapplicationstoexistingapplicationsvia

JCA-basedadaptersUse.packagedadaptersaswellasadevelopmentkitforconnectingtoenterpriseapplicationswithnon-standardinterfaces.

>Tradingpartnerintegration. Createapplicationswithsecureonlineconnectionsto

suppliersandcustomersvialeadingstandardsprotocolssuchasRosettaNet,ebXML,andEDI.

Messagebrokering.Routemessagesbetweenapplicationsusingachannels-based,publish-subscribebrokertotransporteventsinalooselycoupledmanner.

Datatransformation.Transformdatafromoneformattoanotherusingsimpledrag-and-dropmappingviaagraphicalinterface.

>BEALiquidDatafor WebLogic?dataaccessservices

> Datasourceconnectivity.Accessrelationaldatabasesandnon-relationaldatasources,anduseadapterstoaccessover150applicationssuchas,SAPPeopleSoft,Oracle,andSiebel.

Datatransformation.UseXQuery-baseddatamanipulationandtransformationfacilitiestomapdatafromunderlyingsourcesintoadesiredschema.

>Virtualunifieddatastore. Createavirtualunifieddatastorefrommultipledatasources.

Dataviewsandqueries.Createreusableunifieddataviewsfromthevirtualdatastore;writesimplequeriesagainsttheresultingunifieddataviews.

BEAWHITEPAPER–BUYIN

GINFRASTRUCTURETOACCOMPLISHENTERPRISEAPPLICATION

GOALS:

7

ADISCUSSION

OFKEYCON

SIDERATION

S

FIGURE4

Portal,integration,anddataaccessservices

fortheBEAWebLogicPlatform ? 8.1are

providedbytheplatform ’sapplicationserver.

Tohelpmanagersunderstandhowagivenenterpriseapplicationprojectcanusetheseservices,thenextsectiondiscussesseveralcategoriesofapplicationsthatbenefitfromtheuseofportal,integration,anddataaccessservicesascomplementstotheapplicationserver.

COMPOSITEAPPLICATIONS

Compositeapplicationsaggregateresourcesfromexistingapplications,sometimescombiningthem

withnewservices,tocreatenewapplicationsA.compositeapplicationaddressesabusinessprocessthatinvolvesuserinteractionwithmultiplesystems,orprovidesacompositeviewofinformationfrommultiplesystems.

Forcompositeapplications,integrationservicesprovidebusinessprocessmodelingandmanagement,alongwithapplicationintegration(neededtolinkapplicationstogetherandroutemessagesbetweenthemaspartofamulti-systembusinessprocess)Portal.frameworkservicesspeedtheintegrationofallresourcesnecessarytocreateacomplete,compositeview,whileportalbusinessservicesmakeiteasyto

personalizeeachuser ’sexperienceofacompositeapplicationorcustomizehowdifferentaudiences

experiencethesameapplicationBecause.oftheirbuilt-inadvancedpersonalizationfeatures,portalsare

emergingasthenaturalinterfaceforcompositeapplications —whichiswhyanalystfirmMETA

Grouppredictsthat “byportal2007,andcompositeapplicationframeworkswillhavemergedand

becomeindistinguishable”.1

1.CraigRoth,“WorkflowandPortals:TogetheratLast, META”Group,16February2004.

8 BEAWHITEPAPER–BUYIN

GINFRASTRUCTURETOACCOMPLISHENTERPRISEAPPLICATIONADISCUSSIONOFKEYCONSIDERATIONS

GOALS:

AnalystfirmGartnervalidatesthatportaltechnologycanacceleratecompositeapplicationdevelopment;thefirmassertsthattheportalnotonlyprovidescriticalservicesbutalsoactsasacommonfoundationthatpromotesreuseofcomponentsacrossmanycompositeapplicationprojects.

“Portal-basedcompositeapplicationplatformsreducetheeffortnecessarytobuildapplicationsby

providingmoreofthefunctionsnecessaryinthehostframework.Theportalframeworkservesasacommonfoundationthatreducesthecreationofsilosintacticaldevelopmentprojects”1.Analystfirm

ForresterResearchagrees:“Compositeappswillformnewbusinessprocessesbyassemblingthepiecesratherthancodingthemfromscratch.Compositeappsrequireaflexible,context-driveninterfacethat

canrespondtochangingbusinessrequirementsbutprovidearole-specificframeworkthatdeliversconsistentaccessandnavigationovertimeOnly.portalsprovidethistoday.”2

Portal-basedcompositeapplicationsaddressmanydifferenttypesofbusinesschallenges,includingincreasingemployeeproductivityandimprovingrelationshipswithcustomersandpartnersImproving.relationshipswithcustomersthroughbettercustomerserviceillustratesthepowerofacompositeapplication.Acompositeapplicationnotonlyaddressesthechallengeofcustomerservice-relateddata

livingacrossmultipleordermanagement,ERP,CRM,SFA,andbillingsystems—thusmakingitdifficulttocreatea360-degreeviewofcustomers,products,orsalesprocesses—butalsoaddressesthe

challengeofcustomizingtheviewforvariousaudiences,includingcustomerservicereps,salespeople,andthecustomersthemselves.

FIGURE5

Portal-basedcompositeapplications

meetthecustomer-service-related

challengesofaggregatingmultiple

back-endsystemsintocomposite

viewsandprocessesaccessedby

multipleaudiences.

1.

RayValdesandGenePhifer,“CompositeApplicationsBuiltOnAPortalFramework,Gartner,”

25September2003.

2.

LauraRamos,“PortalsProjectsinSearchofPurpose,

Forrester”Research,21April2004.

BEAWHITEPAPER–BUYIN

GINFRASTRUCTURETOACCOMPLISHENTERPRISEAPPLICATION

GOALS:9

ADISCUSSION

OFKEYCONSIDERATION

S

CustomerCaseStudy#1:USFreightways(USF),alargelogisticsfirm,wantedtoprovideitscustomers

withunifiedaccesstothecompany’sonlinebusinessandatservices,thesametimereducethestrainthatconstantapplicationchangerequestsputonIT.

USFdecidedtobuildacompositecustomerserviceapplicationusingBEAWebLogicPortaland

BEAWebLogicServer.BecauseofitsdecisiontouseBEA’sportalinfrastructure,USFestimatesthatitwillbeabletohandlethehundredsofITchangerequestsitreceivesannually30percentfasterthanwaspossiblebefore,sinceITnolongerhastodevelopandmaintainportal-providedfunctionalitysuchaspresentationlogic,sessionmanagement,anduserprofiling.

Onthebusinessside,byunifyingandorganizingcustomeraccesstokeyservicesinacompositeapplication,USF’scustomer-serviceorganizationexpectstoeliminateovertwomillionservicecallsperyear.

CustomerCaseStudy#2:AEuropeannetworkservicescompanywasfacedwithtwochallenges:consolidate35disparatesales,support,andmarketingapplicationsintoasingle,easy-to-useportalexperienceforcustomers,andautomateandspeedupacustomerorder-fulfillmentprocessthatrequiredinformationfrom22differentsystems.

Tomeetthesechallenges,thecompanybuiltabusiness-process-drivencompositeapplicationontopofinfrastructureservicesfromBEAWebLogicPortalandBEAWebLogicIntegration,inadditiontoBEAWebLogicServer.BecauseofitsdecisiontouseBEAportalinfrastructure,thecompanyhasbeen

abletorespondfastertobusinessrequirementsandreduceITcostsInthe.portal ’sfirst15months,IT

wasabletopublish100buildswhilecuttingdevelopmentcostsby ￡1millionannually.Theco

attributesthesavingstoBEA ’,whichssmplicityallowsITtofocusresourcesonbusinesslogicand

servicedifferentiationratherthanonportalplumbing.

Onthebusinessside,thecompany’scustomerserviceportalallowsuserstoaccessallkeyservicesfromasingle,centralizedsite,resultinginanincreaseincustomerservicecalldeflectiontotheWebfrom

50%to80%andareported182%ROIfromtheinitiativetwoyearsafterdeployment.ThecompanyalsosucceededinautomatingitscustomerrequestfulfillmentprocessusingBEAWebLogicIntegration.Asaresultofcreatinganintegratedprocessacross22systems,thecompanyreduceditsorderfulfillmentcycletimeanditscostofgoodssold.

CONTENT-CENTRIC,

COLLABORATIVEAPPLICATIONS

Theuserinterfaceofacompositeapplicationneednot(thoughittypicallydoes)resemblethemodularUI—theportletmetaphor—thatpeopleexpectinaButportaljust.becauseanapplicationdoesnlikeaportaldoesn’tmeanthatitcan'tputportalservicesastoiswork,thecasewithseveraldifferent

’tlook

typesofcontent-centricapplicationsincludinge-commercesitesandcollaborativeapplications.

10 BEAWHITEPAPER–BUYIN

GINFRASTRUCTURETOACCOMPLISHENTERPRISEAPPLICATION

GOALS:

ADISCUSSION

OFKEYCON

SIDERATION

S

Somee-commercesitesarebare-bonesproductcatalogswithcommercecapabilities,whileothersrely

oncompellingcontentpresentationtoenticevisitorstobuygoodsand/orservicesBEA.WebLogic

Portalprovidesrules-basedinteractionmanagementandimplicit-adaptivepersonalizationservicesthat

canenhancetherelevanceofwhatusersseewhilebrowsingane-commercesite—thusdrivinrevenuesfortheproductorservicescompany.Amajorcreditcardcompanyunderstoodthevalueaportalcouldbringtoitse-commercesite,andtodaycombinestheunifieduserprofileandrules-basedinteractionmanagementservicesofBEAWebLogicPortaltotargettherightofferingtotherightuser.

Creativecollaborationreferstothegroupprocessusedinmakingamovie,designingafallfashion

line,orcomposingandrecordingasongEach.processrevolvesaroundsomekindofcontent,and

whileeveryoneknowshowtheprocessstartsandends,inbetweentherecanbeanunendingnumber

ofreviewsandreworkings.Forcreativeorothertypesofcollaborativeapplications,BEAWebLogic

Portalprovidesfeaturesenablingeasycontentuploadandaccess,wellasthoseforfacilitatingand

archivingcollaborativeinteractionsamongstakeholdersAs.anexample,amajormotionpicture

companysawhowaportalcouldhelpreducethetimeittooktocreateandgetapprovalonmovie

trailers.TodaythecompanyusesBEAWebLogicPortal ’scontentmanagementfeaturestostore,upload,

andaccessmovietrailercontent,whileusingtheportal ’suserinterfacetoalloweveryon