Chapter 9
The Collaborative Lifecycle of the Business Process
In This Chapter
Figuring out enterprise architecture
Managing business processes
Discovering the benefits of using unified communications
Getting to know Communication Enabled Business Processing
Making the most of Web 2.0 and social networks
Just when you thought you had SOA all figured out, we introduce some new ideas that provide a more holistic picture of how SOA and its use of services fits into the larger scheme of your business. Your business is complicated: It’s not just a set of reusable services. Your business is about the products and services you offer to your customers. It’s also about the processes that make you unique in how you deliver value. Your business relies on many techniques to reach your customers: Sometimes, you have face-to-face interactions; other times you use the Web in innovative ways; and in other situations, you use the telephone, whether land-based, wireless, or automated.
In this chapter, we take the ambitious steps of showing you how all these paths are actually parts of the same journey. We start with the enterprise architecture, move to business process management, and then traverse into the emerging world of unified communications. We finish the chapter by talking about how all this relates to Web 2.0 and social networks.
Why put all this stuff together? All these functions are part of the overall way a company does business. Always keep in mind that SOA isn’t just about a collection ...
