Cloud Computing and SOA Convergence in Your Enterprise: A Step ...

Doing Something Different 35
When the core internal enterprise architecture needs work. If your enterprise
architecture is dysfunctional, then extending it out to clouddelivered
platforms is not a good idea. Get your house in order first,
at least to the extent that externalizing systems to cloud resources will
not cause harm.
When the application requires a native interface. If you need to leverage
native APIs (such as Win32) and browsers are not an option, then cloud
computing may not be a good fit.
When cost is an issue. Again, consider the costs holistically. While in
many cases cloud computing is a fit, in some cases it is not. We talk more
about this in Chapter 4.
When the application is legacy. Just as new applications are much easier to
move to cloud computing, older or legacy applications are not.
Doing Something Different
There is nothing all that revolutionary about cloud computing. It is more of
an evolutionary approach in which some of our key computing platforms are
better off on cloud-delivered platforms. In short, we are just extending our
way of doing architecture, specifically SOA, to cloud computing platforms.
This book reviews some of the issues you need to consider in a shift to cloud
computing. More importantly, the book provides a process to define an SOA
using cloud computing by making as many right decisions as you can along
the way.
It is just about the architecture, and it has always been about the architecture.
Cloud computing simply provides those who do SOA—and enterprise
architecture—with some cost-effective and innovative architectural options.
The core purpose of doing architecture does not change. The core benefits of
doing architecture do not change. Cloud computing is about new platforms
that are more efficient and effective and that cost less.