Service Oriented Architecture For Dummies®

Chapter 20. SOA According to Hewlett-Packard

In This Chapter

• Bill and Dave's excellent adventure

• Why HP likes SOA

• HP's SOA offerings

• HP's SOA reference architecture

• SOA in Switzerland

Hewlett-Packard Corporation is one of the oldest computer companies going, having been founded in 1939 by two engineers, David Packard and Bill Hewlett. The company's first product was an electronic instrument used to test sound equipment. HP remained focused on the test and measurement equipment market for a decade and eventually expanded its focus into medical devices. At the end of the 1950s, the company entered the emerging electronic printer market and then segued into the computer field proper in 1966, selling its first computer to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

Many new computer products followed in the 1970s. By the 1980s, HP had become a major participant in the computer industry, with a product line that included desktop machines, portable computers, minicomputers, and inkjet and laser printers. HP grew significantly larger in 2002, when the company completed its merger with Compaq Computer Corporation.

HP's overall strategy has been rolled out under the rubric of Adaptive Enterprise, meaning that, with the right technologies, an enterprise can adapt to whatever business conditions demand. HP focuses on helping the IT organization align technology to emerging business needs. It finds that a service oriented architecture fits very well into its overall technology and business strategy.

HP's ...