Smart SOA: Best Practices for IT/Business AlignmentMay 22, 2008 – Ottawa, Ontario Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) computing is rising in interest as a compelling framework for computing among Canadian business enterprises. SOA is about uniformity and is the notion of creating a highly integrated environment for business computing that allows different applications on disparate systems to be used by a multitude of end users through a common “service” interface such as a Web-based portal or Internet browser “front end.” SOA loosely couples together business applications that may have previously been unlinked and typically not integrated. It’s an all-in-one computing approach. SOA addresses the need by businesses to achieve integrated and enhanced systems and processes – the top technology priority for business recently cited by senior IT executives in IT World Canada’s State-of-the-CIO study.SOA serves as the key computing environment for leveraging Business Process Management (BPM). Discussion will likewise focus on creating a step-by-step roadmap for enabling business innovation through BPM. Whether you are just thinking about BPM or already implementing it, you’ll learn at this session the essential elements of BPM at each stage of the journey.Topics included:Simple to advanced SOA approaches that match efforts to objectivesHow to plan service-oriented deployments that can grow as your needs evolveHow Business Process Management can make your business more agileHow the discipline of BPM can be enhanced by a flexible IT architecture to support business innovation and agilityHost: Dan McLean Editorial and Research Director IT World CanadaFeatured Guests: Peter Beggs National Business Process Management (BPM) Specialist IBMCanadaTony Ekodeu Senior IT Architect IBM Canada