Quantitative Analysis of Service Oriented Architectures

Abstract

SOA is an architectural style for building software applications that use services available in a network such as the web. It promotes loose coupling between software components so that they can be reused. Applications in SOA are built based on services SOA is gradually replacing monolithic architecture as the premier design principle for new business applications. It promises lower integration costs, increased reusability and improved enterprise agility and adaptability. The architecture evaluation will improve the problem understanding and it will clearly distinguish the strength and weakness of the architecture. It also performs the cost-benefits analysis for different alternatives and injects the reviewer’s expertise into the project. If software architecture is a key business asset for an organization, then architectural analysis must also be a key practice for that organization. Architectures are complex and involve many design tradeoffs. Without undertaking a formal analysis process, the organization cannot ensure that the architectural decisions made—particularly those which affect the achievement of quality attribute such as performance, availability, security, and modifiability—are advisable ones that appropriately mitigate risks. In this research work an attempt has been made to investigate the possibility of evaluating the Service Oriented Architectures employing a new quantitative evaluation method exclusively. The most suitable SOA providing maximum satisfaction to the stake holders is to be identified.