API and SOA: Two Sides of the Same Coin?

API and SOA : Two sides of the
same coin?

Alistair Farquharson
CTO, SOA Software
Sachin Agarwal, VP Product Marketing
SOA Software

Copyright © 2001-2013 SOA Software, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Speakers

Alistair Farquharson
CTO
SOA Software


Sachin Agarwal
VP, Prod. Marketing
SOA Software

API and SOA Resources

• Resource Center
– http://resource.soa.com/

• Webinar Recording
– http://resource.soa.com/resource/webinars

• Follow us on:
www.facebook.com/soasoftware
www.linkedin.com/company/soasoftware

@soasoftwareinc


SOA


Key to Adoption

• Two keys:
– Interestingly it started off similarly to APIs – with the promise of new
revenue and the IoT was on the tip of everyone’s tongues.
– The fact is that, five/ten years ago the demand for IoT and Mobile was
almost non-existent compared to today.
– SOA turned inward, even though that was not the original goal

necessarily
– The promise of re-use drives businesses to a service orientation
– Standards adoption


Limitations

• It’s a complex world with complex issues and it requires support and
skills to do correctly. To do SOA right, you need the company behind
you, but there are massive payoffs and incredible success stories
• Since SOA became an integration technology, it had to become
sophisticated (I use that term on purpose)
– Security (WS-S*)
– Transactionality (WS-*)
– Multi-protocol

• The timelines associated with an ROI are long, simply because

projects are long and organizations are large
• A pragmatic reason: readability:

Common Components


Example - The SOA Catalog

• SOA was initially focused on UDDI, WSDL and SOAP.
• The idea was that the UDDI standard would provide a consistent way
to discover services and associated metadata.
• As a sign of things to come, the UDDI standard, while ratified, lost
support. I believe that this was due to:
– Inflexibility
– Human readability


UDDI - Technical and Inhuman(e)


The Repository

• Over time, the UDDI Registry has been replaced by the Repository
• Repositories are more flexible, typically template and workflow driven
• Repositories are focused on the development lifecycle
• Their goal is to guide development activities and provide visibility and
accountability in the SDLC process
• Now we are seeing API developer portals emerge to complement
internal repositories


SOA

SOA, in its focus on machine to machine integration and

standardization, has, in the past, forgotten about the human
in the equation.

This is changing.


API


Why APIs?


The API Portal

• The API Catalog approaches the problem from a completely different
direction based on its origins
– Consumer-facing
– Mobile/Web App consumer

• APIs continue the trend of human to human, rather than machine to
machine, interaction
• The developer is now the customer, rather than a participant
– A lack of enthusiasm for standards has forced a document-centric
approach, which is better for humans anyway

– The need for channel marketing has driven a portal design
– The need for developer engagement has improved utility


The Different Roles

Repository
•
•
•
•

API Portal
•
•
•
•

Production
SDLC
Security
Inside

Both are required

Consumption
Promotion/Support
Provisioning
Outside

The Need for Both

Production

Consumption

Unified API Platform


The relationship between APIs and SOA


• API initiatives are the lucky ones:
– Business funding
– Green field
– Shifted center of gravity


Common Misconceptions

• APIs and Web Services are distinguished by the technology they use,
JSON vs. SOAP
• APIs have become the external interface to an organization while
Web Services have become components for internal collaborations


What is an API

• Has become a broader term than web service, it is not exclusive to
JSON/HTTP as some may lead us to believe
• Can utilize different data formats such as XML, SOAP, JSON, or plain
text
• Can utilize different transports such as WebSockets, HTTP, TCP,
MLLP, JMS, or MQ
• Does not exclude Web Services, SOAP, XML, JMS


Differentiating through Exposure

• The choice of technology should be dictated by the client:
– Web/JavaScript – JSON/HTTP, WebSockets
– Mobile – JSON/HTTP
– Java A2A – XML over the most relevant protocol

• You may need to expose multiple types depending on the channel


Simplifying the Landscape

• APIs are a superset of Web Services – it is a business differentiation,
not a technical one
– Business, product focus
– Shifted center of gravity

• You need a single platform that is flexible enough to handle multiple:
– Transports and Protocols
– Message types
– Descriptors and Documentation Standards


Sample Topology


What’s wrong with the API platform?


Wire Protocol

• APIs are typically JSON/REST
– Web/Mobile

• Web Services are typically XML/SOAP
– A2A Integration

• Management platforms need to cater to both. Typically, however, they
focus on one to the detriment of the other.


The Need for Both

• Depending on the consumer, APIs may need to be SOAP as well as
JSON/REST
• APIs regularly leverage backend SOAP services within an
organization
• The management platform therefore needs to:
•

Understand both APIs and Services

•

Mediate between SOAP/XML and
JSON/REST

•

Understand the dependencies
between APIs and Services to
facilitate change management, root
cause alaysis etc.


Descriptor

• API developers ideally write detailed documentation, with samples
messages and code to communicate API details.
– Pro : Human readable
– Con : Change management is subjective

• Web Services primarily use WSDL and WS-Policy
– Pro : Change management is explicit
– Con : Difficult to understand


The Need for Both

• Effective change management and version control demands that the
API and Web Service are formally described in some way
– WSDL
– Swagger
– WADL

• The side benefits of this are:
– Document generation
– Code generation


Security

• APIs typically leverage OAuth or HTTP request signing mechanisms
for security
– Transport-based (HTTP)
– Device capable

• SOA leverages WS-S, SAML, WS-Trust, etc
– Message-based
– XML


The Need for Both

• Security mediation between web standards and WS-* standards is
critical
• A deep understanding of the different standards and policies is
required, including:
– OAuth 1.0a/2.0
– Header-based signature mechanisms
– SAML
– WS-Security
– XACML

• Token and identity mediation is
critical

Summary

SOA, in its focus on machine to machine integration and

standardization, forgot about the human in the equation.

APIs, in their focus on ease of use, have forgotten about
management and control.

You need both


Successful APIs


Key Components

There are three key components to making an API effort successful in
the long term.

 Design
 Implementation
 Program Management

All of these require a comprehensive platform

35

APIs are tip of the Iceberg!

Drive
Accelerate


Monetize
Analyze

What does a Management Platform Provide

Business
Foundation/
Functional
Tier
Service Arch.
Lifecycle
Data arch.

NonFunctional
Tier

Security,
Mediation,
QoS, Analytics


Protocol
Tier

Publishing,
Oauth, etc.

Business Foundation/Functional Tier

• Service Rationalization, Reuse
• Lifecycle Management
• Change Management
• Impact Analysis


Non-Functional Tier

• Security
– Integration with Enterprise SSO/LDAP
– Message Security/Encryption
– Threat Protection

• Orchestration
• Monitoring
– Rate limiting
– QoS
– SLA

• Analytics


Protocol Tier

• SOAP
• JSON
• etc


The Unified SOA & API Platform

Analytics
Developer
Engagement
Gateway Services
Service Integration
Lifecycle
Management

API and SOA: Two Sides of the Same Coin?

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