Chapter ONE. ESA in the World of Information Technology
Enterprise Services Architecture (ESA) is SAP's blueprint for how enterprise software should be constructed to provide maximum business value. The challenge facing most companies is not whether to adopt service-oriented architecture (SOA), but when and how to do so. There is always a lag between technological vision and business feasibility. It also takes time to fully realize the potential of existing technologies, a process that does not stop the moment the new thing arrives. But when the value of a new approach such as ESA starts to make a difference and produces a competitive advantage, the motivation to change skyrockets. The time to change becomes now and the hunger for learning grows. The goal of this book is to satisfy the hunger for information for those who suspect that ESA may be a gateway to transforming Information Technology (IT) into a strategic weapon.
The current state of the art is a long way from ESA. Most enterprise software programs now use Internet-inspired technologies, such as portals, web-based user interfaces (UIs), application servers, and XML-based messaging services, but they still cling to client/server and even mainframe architectures. This will change dramatically over the next five years. IT will become connected by networks, awash in data, faster, more adaptive, more in sync with business. Companies that understand how to unlock the business value of this new architecture before their competitors ...