Taking a look at SAP's SOA/BPM support

Lustratus Research recently completed a detailed evaluation of SAP's SOA and process integration support, and the result is quite a pleasant surprise, to me anyway. Most people have been aware of SAP's NetWeaver XI integration capabilities for some years, but SAP has not been standing still, and has quietly been increasing and broadening functionality while consolidating the packaging. As a result, process integration is now one of the usage types offered by the NetWeaver software platform, built on an SOA foundation.

Among the many goodies for SAP application users is the provision of Solution Maps - process templates for each SAP application component. These should significantly reduce the time and effort needed to start developing the desired integrated process flows. At a more general level, the SAP Aris for NetWeaver modeling component, the result of a close partnership between SAP and IDS Scheer, should prove popular with business analysts and architects.

For companies interested in SOA-based integration, especially big SAP application shops, the SAP SOA-based process integration support is well worth a closer look.

Steve