Net-Centricity, SOA, and Web 2.0

SOA and Net-Centricity: A Natural Marriage

Net-Centricity and SOA\Web services technology is a natural marriage because SOA\Web services is based on open standards, is technology independent, and is a decentralized (i.e., delegated to the network) approach to systems interoperability. With SOA/Web services the a provider of valuable data or functionality can publish services to the “net” utilizing Web services based interface specifications and then the decision to inter-operate and the effort of integrating is pushed out to the net community participants that wish to access those services. This promotes scalability by delegating the integration effort out to the net of organizations. Once a consumer organization gains interoperability by conforming to the interface specification, it gains the benefit of interoperability with all “net” systems that also conform to the interface specification. A single integration effort reaps the benefits of all the systems networked via the interface specification (i.e., Metcalf’s Law). This is the essence of Net-Centricity.  Published and understandable Web services based interface specifications are the critical enabler for the rapid integration of systems into a community services “exchange” that will significantly benefit the community and enable true Net-Centric interoperability.

Can anyone argue for a technology that is better suited for Net-Centricity than SOA?

What is Net-Centricity really?

Net-Centricity is many things ranging from a mind set to a revolution in the way people work and play. A common mistake is to consider Net-Centricity literally as "network centric" with the focus on routers, switches, bandwidth, packets, etc. Net-Centricity is no more about the network technology infrastructure than the world wide web is about HTTP and HTML. Critical technologies yes, the power of the web, no.

In a nut shell, Net-Centricity is thinking and behavior that centers around what the "net" can deliver. The net is the vast human, information, and processing power throughout the world (or rather the solar system) that can be accessed via the technology of today and tomorrow. Just as self centered people think about themselves and focus on the "I." Net centered people think about the net, how it will behave, and how it can be leveraged. Don't do it yourself, use the net.

This thinking is currently dominating the US Department of Defense (DoD) Force Transformation initiative (Office of Force Transformation). Net-Centric Operations and Warfare (NCOW) is the fundamental underpinning of the future force structure based on modularity. "Post before process" is one of the most telling tenets of NCOW. Fundamentally it means don't horde the information and try to figure out what it means with your pea brain (relatively speaking), get it out to the net and let thousands of brains work on it.

Net-Centricity (and SOA as we will get to in future posts) is all about leverage. Distribution of effort and distribution of value are the primary goals of Net-Centricity. 

Although from my experience Net-Centricity as a term is used most widely in a DoD context, the idea did not start there and it clearly applies broadly. The Web 2.0 movement has the Net-Centricity concepts at its core and its Net-Centric value will increase as the Web continues to advance as an application enabling information source and a collaboration medium.