A Practical Definition Of "SOA Policy"

As service-oriented architecture (SOA) matures in the marketplace, SOA policy management will become an increasingly important aspect of SOA-based business and technical flexibility. However, the term "SOA policy" is, at best, ambiguous. At least three industry specifications provide divergent perspectives on the term "policy" and how to distinguish policies from rules. Fortunately, a few guidelines and a practical perspective on SOA policy can go a long way toward ensuring good decisions about when to use — and not to use — SOA policy. Policy is most useful as a means to embody decisions for key points of control and flexibility, and it is more important to use SOA policy pragmatically than to have a theoretically and academically precise definition of it.