A STRATEGY PAPER FROM

A natural synergy for service-oriented governments committed to doing the public’s business

SERVICE-ORIENTED ARCHITECTURE:Making Collaborative Government Work

SERVICE-ORIENTED ARCHITECTURE:MAKING COLLABORATIVE GOVERNMENT WORK

IntroductionIn 1918, the Spanish flu pandemic began inauspi-ciously. It caused a form of viral pneumonia thatresulted in “extensive hemorrhaging of the lungsthat could kill the perfectly fit within 48 hours orless.” Before the pandemic had run its course,over 40 million people were dead in less than asingle year.1 It was a global disaster and the mostdeadly human plague of the 20th century.

The 21st century comes with its own chal-lenges, including the threat of new pandemics.Fortunately, new technologies have broughtwith them the hope of a brighter future.

Although the ability of governments to effec-tively stem pandemics and other threats over

time remains unproven, the capacity of gov-ernment to detect, monitor and respond toevents is at levels that would have beenunimaginable just a few short years ago. Muchof that capacity relies on digital technologieswhich began doing the heavy lifting of govern-ment one half century ago. This paper propos-es a more optimistic view of the capability ofgovernment to more effectively serve the peo-ple through the adoption of a more fullyevolved architecture — one that, as its namesuggests, is service-oriented. To be sure,Service-oriented Architecture is well suited tothe myriad of transactions between citizensand their government, but an integrated futureholds much greater promise than that.

In a world of growing complexity and compet-ing demands, government needs to go beyonda patchwork quilt of custom interfaces amongsystems that have nothing in common anddevelop a modern architecture that is strong,stable and comparatively simple. Enter Service-oriented Architecture (SOA). If SOA holds thepromise for stopping future pandemics in theirtracks, imagine what it can do for the huge vol-ume of routine transactions between govern-ment and the citizens and businesses they serve.

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Service-Oriented Architecture

“SERVICE IS GOVERNMENT’S ONLY BUSINESS. SOA SHOULD BE ITS ARCHITECTURE.”— PAUL W.TAYLOR, CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER, CENTER FOR DIGITAL GOVERNMENT

Imagine for a moment a world 100 years afterthe devastation of 1918. In 2018, due to theongoing threat of global pandemics, informa-tion about illnesses and diseases is immediate-ly transmitted by all government, health care,public safety and transportation authorities toGlobal Alerts, a consolidated real-time datastream of events affecting localities, states,regions, continents and the entire world. Inthat way, worldwide Departments of DiseaseControl and Prevention and local health, trans-portation and public safety authorities canreceive real-time updates on potential expo-

sures and other threats. Of course most healthincidents are routine, therefore “system noise”has been counteracted by powerful stream filters that matured in 2010. Since that time thestream filters have been deployed to cull prior-ity alerts from alerts of negligible consequence.Testing, treatment, quarantine and releaseteams can be immediately dispatched to helpprevent outbreaks and avert crises.

Since the deployment of the Global AlertsStream in 2015, serious viral or genetic infec-tions have been transmitted to no more than

500 individuals worldwide in the last threeyears — a remarkable effort in coordinationsupported by the modern syndromic senseand response systems.2

What once was science fiction can now be thenew reality of government service delivery inleading jurisdictions. The SOA experiencepoints to the potential of transformation forthose governments that join the journeytoward a re-architected future.

Imagining Government Service Delivery:A Future Where SOA Helps the Internet Keep its Transformational Promise

A Strategy Paper fromTHE CENTER FOR DIGITAL GOVERNMENT

The previous scenario describes a level of dataintegration and communication that is not onlypossible but likely — and necessary — if gov-ernments take advantage of the modernapproaches and tools available. In doing so,government can build the future into informa-tion technology planning. Yet government facestwin challenges to achieve such a goal — infi-nite demand for services and finite resources toprovide those services. The delivery of servic-es at the scale needed by government requiresinformation technology.

Government can no longer justify unnecessaryduplication of infrastructure that could otherwisebe shared. Nor can it afford to build tomorrow’sstovepipe systems today. Governments confrontsome hard choices: continue to approach andservice button-downed, hard-coded, hardwiredIT systems of today — or seize new approachesand tools that are “agile,” “nimble,” “flexible,” and“adaptive.” These are the descriptors forward-

leaning government leaders look for in their toolset as they strive to meet public expectations andbuild trust with citizens they help protect.

One promising approach that governments arebeginning to imagine and act upon is calledService-oriented Architecture (SOA). A moredetailed treatment of this topic will follow butbriefly stated: SOA is an approach more widelyadopted to date in the private sector; one thatis improving collaboration between customers,suppliers and trading partners in a way thatwrings inefficiencies and costs from businesstransactions. As the SOA concept moves awayfrom machine room consciousness and movestoward mainstream consciousness via execu-tive directors’ offices, government is in an idealcircumstance to adopt the SOA approach.

As a framework, SOA provides patterns fordesign, development, deployment and man-agement of IT services that support public

services in ways that are network-aware,reusable and “available to other participants inthe network as independent services that theparticipants access in a standardized way.”3

This paper explains why service-oriented gov-ernment is the right approach at the right timefor government today to enable collaborationamong government, industry, and the public.Service-oriented government also presents away to increase output of services while keep-ing labor the same or at a decreased level tohelp handle the upcoming job migration asgovernment workers move toward retire-ment. Finally, SOA and an implementationknown as Web services is the approach thatwill help provide the blueprint and the tools tospark greater data integration that can lead to arenaissance of government modernization.

Making the Case for SOA

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“The Flowers and the Bees”of Service-Oriented Architecture and Web Services

Service-oriented Architecture (SOA) will havea revolutionary impact on the field of informa-tion technology and by extension, any place ITtouches. This space is one in which ITbecomes more embedded each day in thedrive toward ubiquity or universal “intelligencein everything.” In this emerging environment,SOA also requires re-thinking about how soft-ware is designed and subsequently, where andhow it is deployed.

To better grasp the concept of SOA, it isimportant to first understand that it is not atechnology. Instead, it is a way of thinking aboutservice (not technology) that becomes clear asit is broken down into components. For exam-ple, in government, “food assistance” for thepoor is a service or program. Providing a hunt-ing, fishing or driver’s license to a citizen is alsoa service – in this case, a regulatory service.Typically a service has a consumer and a

provider or producer. An organization choos-ing to adopt a SOA approach would promoteusing information technology to automate theconsumption and provision of services overthe Web. In fact, it is the Internet and theWeb’s very existence that has allowed SOAconcepts to flourish and take hold. In the soft-ware world, a consumer of a service (in thiscase a Web Service) is often a software appli-cation. The provider or producer relies onanother piece of software as its agent (the Webservice), that the application uses to do a dis-crete piece of work.

The beauty of a Web service is like that of aflower: it can attract a multitude of sometimes“unintended suitors” — that is, software appli-cations or consumers. Web services increase invalue when reused and increase in valuethrough the power of Extensible Mark-upLanguage (XML), which makes Web services

readily available. For example, in 2004 theState of Utah re-designed its payment engineas a Web service based on a new architecture.Instead of the logic and process of making apayment for a business license or a motorvehicle license being a tightly integrated part ofeach new transaction-based application, thisreusable component was made to operate asan independent service that could be used bymultiple applications. This service reducedtimelines for integration from months to oneweek. The relationship between a softwareapplication and a Web service is described in ITjargon as being “loosely coupled,” as opposedto “tightly integrated.”

Unlike most humans under most circum-stances, computer hardware and software donot handle ambiguity particularly well. Forexample, they do not do a very good job oflooking at a series of pictures of a home for saleand picking which is the best representation orat least the most appealing representation ofthe property being sold.4 For computers to talkto one another and understand what is beingsaid, certain linguistic standards must be appliedfor the communication to yield the expectedresult. In this case the lingua franca of SOA andof Web services is XML.

To illustrate the point, it is useful to return to theservices mentioned in the SOA description —namely, hunting and fishing licenses and foodassistance for the poor. In a world before Webservices, an application for any of those serviceswould typically ask for the information for eachservice, causing duplicative data entry by the citi-zen and duplicative processing of that informa-tion by multiple applications. As cases or licensescome up for renewal, the pre-Web servicesapplication often does not recognize the userand so the data may be re-keyed each time arenewal occurs. Granted, this process is evolvingwithout SOA to the point that better linking withdatabases allows some level of recognition andform filling capability to reduce data entry time.Yet SOA, through the use of Web services, pro-vides an opportunity to move this process to anew level of efficiency and integration.

For example, Web services offer the ability torealize a long envisioned but still elusive citizendirectory. At the citizen-facing level, an interface toa sharable directory would capture basic informa-tion about an individual who might use a govern-ment service in the future — information such asname, address, phone number and e-mail. Attheir discretion, citizens could set individualizedpreferences to pre-select specialized services tomatch their needs and lifestyle. For example, anindividual could be notified about all licenses upfor renewal over the next five years includingoccupational and professional licenses, huntingand fishing licenses, or renewal of motor vehicletags or driver’s licenses. As more applicationsbecome available online and existing services are updated, this individual could become a

consumer of the citizen directory Web service.The data that existed with this particular servicewould not need to be re-collected nor perma-nently stored by multiple applications. This Webservice could also allow for the implementation ofa “single sign on” for citizens where their roles,needs and preferences are matched with appro-priate access controls.

A citizen directory that is implemented with iden-tity management can improve efficiency andaddress many security issues related to applica-tions and the integrity of transactions. A paymentgateway implemented as a Web service could alsohandle all credit card and Automated ClearingHouse (ACH) transactions for state and local gov-ernments and universities.

These examples demonstrate a primary reasonthat Web services are useful: instead of tight inte-gration they provide “a very loose couplingbetween an application that uses the Web serviceand the Web service itself.” This allows eitherpiece to change without negatively affecting the other, “as long as the interface remainsunchanged.” This flexibility allows software to bebuilt by assembling individual components into acomplete application.5

These Web services do not need to be govern-ment created or owned but can be used at no costor for a fee. This opens a range of possibilities forgovernments in deciding who is best positioned toprovide a specific service, including contracting withprivate partners and non-governmental, civicorganizations. Suppose a government has createda “mash-up” between the Google Maps Webservice and a database of sex offenders. BecauseGoogle offered the map service at no charge,there would be no formal contractual relationshipbeyond a license agreement.

What happens when a vendor decides to chargefor a service it has been providing for free? This isa minor issue when it involves a single Web serv-ice. But what if an aggressive government decidesto consume hundreds of services as they becomeavailable? Clearly, a legal framework for consum-ing private sector Web services will be warrantedin the near future, as these services will inevitablyproliferate on the Web.

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Service-Oriented Architecture

XML is the New Lingua FrancaXMLWikipedia accurately describes XML as a World WideWeb Consortium (W3C) “recommended general-purpose markup language for creating special-purposemarkup languages, capable of describing many differentkinds of data.” It permits the sharing of data “across different systems; particularly systems connected via theInternet…Programs can modify and validate documentsin these languages without prior knowledge of their form.”

Service-oriented ArchitectureSOA is “an architectural style whose goal is to achieveloose coupling among interacting software agents. Aservice is a unit of work done by a service provider toachieve desired end results for a service consumer. Bothprovider and consumer are roles played by softwareagents (computer programs) on behalf of their owners.”

Although the definition of SOA may apply to many services,

a Service-Oriented architecture as described here is a design

that allows for the coordination and use of a collection of

Web services. Another way of looking at it is that SOAs

provide a “unified service infrastructure, which is composed

of several services applications.”6 Information technology

architects believe that SOAs help organizations respond

more rapidly and cost-effectively to changing conditions by

promoting reuse of existing IT assets across an enterprise. It

also allows government agencies to provide, if you will,

plug-and-play extensions to their legacy data systems thus

makings these islands of data accessible via the Web.7

Web ServicesAccording to the W3C, a Web service is “a softwaresystem designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network. It has an interfacedescribed in a machine-processable format (specificallyWeb Services Description Language (WSDL)). Othersystems interact with the Web service in a manner pre-scribed by its description using Simple Object AccessProtocol (SOAP) messages, typically conveyed usingHTTP with an XML serialization in conjunction withother Web-related standards.”8 Software applicationswritten in various programming languages, running onvarious platforms can use Web services to exchangedata over computer networks like the Internet. Thisinteroperability is due to the use of open standards.W3C9 and OASIS10 are the primary committees respon-sible for the architecture and standards for Web servic-es and e-business.

Definitions

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A Strategy Paper fromTHE CENTER FOR DIGITAL GOVERNMENT

Service-Oriented Architecture is Here to StayThe summary judgment of a critical mass ofindustry analysts suggests that SOA is a funda-mental shift in software architecture and part ofwhat some refer to as Web 2.011 — that is, the“next generation” Web. For example, Gartner

estimates that by “2006, more than 60 percentof the $527 billion IT professional servicesmarket will be based on the utilization of Webservices standards and technology. By 2008,SOA will provide the basis for 80 percent of

development projects.”12 Governments havetremendous opportunity here and should dowhatever is needed to capitalize on this trend.

Where to Use SOA in GovernmentAuthor and consultant Joe McKendrickexplores a number of real world uses forSOA that are applicable to government.McKendrick’s original list has been adapted,summarized and changed to better apply togovernment.

Data ManagementData management streamlines access andlinks data users to services they need toprocess data.

Workflow Management Business Process Execution Language(BPEL) is an XML-based language thatbrings together the protocols for the heavylifting of automating business processeswith the subtleties of business interactions.BPEL extends Web services to transac-tions, including modeling steps that workgoes through to be processed in an end-to-end transaction.

Service Consolidation Service consolidation can link to and leverage existing in-house legacy systems,making them access via a single citizen orbusiness portal. It also permits such uses asonline bill pay.

Constituent Services Integration Integration could create a series ofloosely coupled Web services and providea single interface for all types of constituentinquiries, feedback and complaints.Constituent services integration couldalso integrate workflow, alerts and datafeeds to each agency for processing andfollow-up.

Improving External Partner Relationships Improve these relationships by permittinglocal governments, educational institu-tions, state agencies, courts, the legislatureand nationwide public entities and tradingpartners/suppliers to create a sharedlibrary of Web services components.

Creating Cost Efficiencies Verizon Communications claims to havereduced IT costs by 50 percent by elimi-nating redundant systems inherited fromthe merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE. TheSOA also helped integrate the operationsof some 7,000 developers. Cost efficien-cies of this type are also possible in govern-ment, particularly during IT organizationalconsolidations.

Reducing IT Automation Project Timelines Reduce these timelines from months toweeks.

Application Consolidation, Re-use and Business/IT Alignment To achieve consolidation, re-use and align-ment, build a Web service once and allow multiple applications to use it.

Data Sharing Among Loosely Coupled NetworksAchieve data sharing among loosely cou-pled networks by expanding the access andsharing of data trapped inside hard-codedlegacy systems.13

Service-Oriented Architecture

Presentation Layer Portal/Web Apps

Orchestration Layer business process modeling; business activity monitoring (BAM); workflow

Business Logic Layer Web Services

Integration Layer Enterprise Application Integration

Data Layer Legacy Applications; databases

Some content for this sidebar was adapted from a presen-tation given by Toby Redshaw, CTO of Motorola, at SOAExecutive Forum for Government, May 5, 2005.

http://weblog.infoworld.com/dickerson/001357.html

Web 2.0 – Simplicity FirstSOA can be complex to implement or it can beeasier to implement, depending on theapproach. In essence, Web 2.0 advocates forsimpler software — easier to build and use,cleaner and cheaper.

Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Ray Ozziesays it best in a recent memo: “Complexitykills. It sucks the life out of developers; it makesproducts difficult to plan, build and test; it intro-duces security challenges; and it causes end-

user and administrator frustration. Moving for-ward…[we should]…explore and embracetechniques to reduce complexity.”14

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Service-Oriented Architecture

Action Plans: How One Government Got Started with SOA

Developing a SOA and Web Services Mindset Building the future of public service deliverymeans getting the architecture right. To thatend, organizations need to begin developingSOA and Web services mindsets. Begin by juststarting somewhere. Some state and local gov-ernments have done so by creating ReallySimple Syndication (RSS) feeds for informationthat is of interest to the public and allowing anindividual to pick or personalize the list of feedsthat interest them. Using RSS is also a goodplace to start becoming familiar with the lan-guage of Web services, XML.

Another area that has become viable, althoughit has taken a number of hits since 2001, is usingWeb logs. There have been a fair number oflegislators, public employees and at least onegovernor that tried blogging. Others haveexperimented with audio blogging or podcasts.Podcasting speeches or meetings are otheremerging means of government-to-citizencommunication. The beauty of podcasting isthat it allows for portability — whether on a person’s belt or in a vehicle during suburbancommutes. The development of downloaded

video podcasts is on the horizon. From theseexamples of RSS/XML deployments, govern-ments can begin to create a Web serviceslibrary that can be shared across states — fromvirtual travel services for state employees to cit-izen payment engines and citizen directories.

Starting with DataGovernment data is everywhere, so a reviewof key government data is another good placeto start building a SOA. Currently there is nosingle view, no uniformity, and virtually no

reuse when it comes to data. Applications, aswell as service-oriented applications, are aboutdata. The vast majority of application develop-ment time today (some estimate up to 70

percent) may be spent finding and accessingdisparate data. This is an indication that one ofthe first places to begin with SOA projects is byservice enabling data.15

What “Done” Looks Like

The key to building a SOA is getting somequick wins and experience. Armed with theSOA mindset and a foundation of standards tobuild on, Web services efficiencies can be har-vested. This begs the question: “What does‘done’ look like?” As SOA evolves in the public

and private sectors, “done” will be a funda-mental shift in the architecture of software.Eventually Web applications will represent onlya small portion of total usable code, the vastamount being consumed from loosely coupledWeb services. This is a huge transition that will

occur over the next three years. Of course, onthe services side, “done” means a more agile,nimble, flexible, adaptive and service-orientedgovernment.

On the Horizon – SOA Enablers

The new year opened with a breakthroughannouncement that demonstrates the matura-tion of SOA through the release of a ServiceComponent Architecture (SCA). SCA is aprocess and set of specifications that describe a

model for building applications and systemsusing a Service-oriented Architecture. ServiceInfrastructure is a new type of software, neces-sary for extensive SOA adoption. Such stan-dardization efforts free up developers’ time.

Instead of spending time on implementationand maintenance, developers can spend morevaluable time developing business solutions.16

Consistent with the state’s world view —namely, “We relish competition and cherishour champions for their willingness to pushbeyond conventional boundaries to reach newheights of success,” Kentucky has recentlyadopted SOA as the state’s new platform forgoverning now and in the future.

According to Vibhas Chandrachood, executivedirector of Application Development for theCommonwealth of Kentucky, government is

under increasing pressure to seek new IT solu-tions in the wake of baby boomer retirement.Chandrachood explains that it takes 150 peo-ple to manage these applications. “We current-ly have the personnel,” says Chandrachood,“but we may not have that luxury in the future.So part of SOA is answering the question ofhow to do more with less.”

Kentucky decided to implement SOA throughthe use of an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB (see

next page for definition)) and is using SOA toextend and integrate legacy applications with-out relying on point-to-point interfaces.Chandrachood describes the old way of inte-gration as “burning money” but uses morehopeful terms when he says that “data suggeststhat SOA is the most effective and cost efficientway to move forward.”

Still, using an ESB to extend legacy systems whilesimultaneously building new applications in a

A Strategy Paper fromTHE CENTER FOR DIGITAL GOVERNMENT

SOA environment has its challenges. Key amongthem, says Chandrachood, “is to understandand articulate what business problems SOA willsolve.” He also explains that developers need tocarefully adhere to SOA architecture, frame-work, and to use open protocols like XML.

Kentucky is currently working on several appli-cations to use the ESB and also building a coreset of rules that run via that Bus. These servic-

es can be called upon by a variety of applica-tions. One of the first systems identified bytheir business case process to come onlinewith the ESB is the e-collections system of the Department of Revenue. Chandrahoodexplains that 150 agencies collect money andall have a need to talk to the tax system. Thisproject will be followed by another heavily uti-lized database, the state’s accounting system. Inaddition to these data integration efforts, the

state is also building a Web service for addressvalidation that Chandrahood describes as “asimple and reusable component of almost anylegacy application. Build it once and it can beleveraged by anybody else,” he says.

Action Steps for Moving Government Toward SOA

Service-Enable Data FirstLook for the most heavily utilized databases with the most requested data elements and beginexposing this information first.

Utilize an Enterprise Service Bus An ESB is software (a messaging engine) that makes services reusable and available to users, appli-cations, business processes, and other services.

Identify Frequently Repeatable ProcessesThese will exist across agency boundaries and are candidates for re-use.

Establish StandardsApplication developers need to understand, support and follow standards. Organizations need toprovide developers with adequate training to successfully make the shift to utilizing Web services.

Just Start ExperimentingDevelop SOA and Web services mindsets by experimenting with RSS (Really Simple Syndication)news feeds on agency Web sites. Have the RSS feed provide information that is of interest to thepublic or employees. Encourage employee Web logs, viewable at least from inside the firewall. Tryaudio and video podcasting for government-to-citizen communications.

Create a Web Services Library Develop a library of Web services that can be shared across states. Provide a broad range of data,from virtual travel services for state employees to citizen payment engines and citizen directories.

Governments can no longer justify unnecessary duplication of infrastructure that could otherwise be shared. Nor can governments afford to build tomorrow’s stovepipe systemstoday. Governments must confront some hard choices about the future. Will governmentallow itself to be characterized as the button-downed, hard-coded, hardwired IT systemsof the past — or instead embrace the new approaches, methods and tools that a Service-oriented Architecture entails?

Governments and their leaders have the opportunity to rekindle a formidable and abidingtrust among citizens. As trusted servants of the people, governments will receive the well-earned credit as they become more agile, nimble, flexible, adaptive and service-orientedgovernments.

Conclusion

References1 World Health Organization, “Avian influenza: assessing the pandemic threat.” January 2005.http://www.who.int/csr/disease/influenza/H5N1-9reduit.pdf2 International Society for Disease Surveillance.http://www.syndromic.org/index.php3 Wikipedia, “Service-oriented Architecture.” Updated January 17,2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_Oriented_Architecture4 amazon.com, “Amazon Mechanical Turk (Beta): ArtificialArtificial Intelligence.”http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html/ref=sc_fe_c_1_345361_3 103 53354064557436?%5Fencoding=UTF8&node=15879911 &no=3435361&me=A36L942TSJ2AJA 5 World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), “Web ServicesGlossary: W3C Working Group Note.” February 11, 2004http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/NOTE-ws-gloss-20040211/#webservice 6 Hao He, “What is Service-Oriented Architecture?” September 30, 2003.http://webservices.xml.com/pub/a/ws/2003/09/30/soa.htmlhttp://inews.webopedia.com/TERM/S/Service_Oriented_Architecture.html7 Phil Laplante and Thomas Costello, “CIO Wisdom II: More Best Practices.” p. 121, 2005.8 World Wide Web Consortium, op.cit., glossary.9 World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) http://www.w3.org10 Organization for the Advancement of Structured InformationStandards (OASIS) http://www.oasis-open.org/11 Tim O’Reilly, “What is Web. 2.0?” September 30, 2005.http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html?page=512 David W. Cearley, Jackie Fenn, Daryl C. Plummer, “Gartner’sPositions on the Five Hottest IT Topics and Trends in 2005.”Gartner, May 12, 2005http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument ?doc_cd=125868 13 Based on Joe McKendrick’s Ten Examples of SOA at work,right now. January 2006.http://blogs.zdnet.com/service-oriented/?p=508 14 Ray Ozzie, “Internet Services Disruption,” Microsoft Memo,October 28, 2005, courtesy of Dave Winer and Scripting News.http://www.scripting.com/disruption/ozzie/TheInternetServicesDisruptio.htm15 BEA Systems, “BEA AquaLogic Data Services Platform,” 2006. http://www.bea.com/framework.jsp?CNT=index.htm&FP=/content/products/aqualogic/data_services16Robin Cover, “IT Vendors Promote Service ComponentArchitecture (SCA,)” Cover Pages, OASIS, December 7, 2005.http://xml.coverpages.org/ni2005-12-07-a.html

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Underwritten by:

BEA Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: BEAS) is a world leader in enterprise infrastructure software, providing standards-based platforms to accelerate the secure flow of information and services. BEA product lines — WebLogic®, Tuxedo®, JRockit®,and the new AquaLogic™ family of Service Infrastructure — help customers reduce IT complexity and successfully deployService-Oriented Architectures to improve business agility and efficiency. With BEA platforms for building services andmanaging the entire SOA lifecycle, companies can confidently move their SOA projects from pilot to enterprise-wide production, even in heterogeneous environments.

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, BEA is a billion-dollar company with 15,000 customers worldwide served by 76 offices in36 countries. For more information please visit www.bea.com.

Acknowledgments:

Paul W. Taylor, Ph.D., Chief Strategy Officer for the Center Digital Government and the Center for Digital EducationAl Sherwood, Senior Fellow for the Center for Digital Government and former deputy CIO for the state of Utah

About Center for Digital Government:

The Center for Digital Government, a division of e.Republic, Inc., is a national research and advisory institute on informationtechnology policies and best practices in state and local government. Its advisory services, online resources and specialreports provide public and private sector leaders with decision support, knowledge and opportunities to help effectivelyincorporate new technologies in the 21st century.

The Center's Strategy Papers provide two decades of experience and insight into the most critical IT topics governmentsare faced with today. The papers address important policy and management issues and offer strategic approaches for planning and implementing technology, funding sources and case studies from jurisdictions.

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