Eclipse SOA Initiative

SOA WG HAS BEEN TERMINATED

Version October 14, 2009 (Approved)

Charter

Purpose and Scope

The SOA platforms used across industries are characterized by vendor-specific offerings lacking interoperability, e.g. between different ESBs. Although Web Service and REST technologies are widely accepted, they are neither sufficient to build a SOA nor to ensure interoperability between SOA products. A common SOA platform, based on Eclipse or any other technology, has not been adopted across the software industry.

With Eclipse SOA Tooling Platform (STP) and Eclipse SOA Runtime (Swordfish) key technologies are available for design time and runtime that have the potential to establish a common SOA platform. Moreover, the Eclipse Ecosystem assembles all major vendors of Java-based SOA platforms necessary to establish such a common SOA platform.

The goal of the proposed Industry Working Group, to be called the "Eclipse SOA Initiative", will be to define, implement and promote a common Equinox-based SOA platform including both design time and runtime components. By adopting this platform the different vendor platforms achieve interoperability. The Eclipse SOA Initiative will be the forum for collaboration between the industry players on the vendor and user side to define and deliver a common SOA platform, it will facilitate collaboration between existing SOA-related Eclipse projects, and initiate new projects based on identified un-met requirements.

Description of Deliverables

The Eclipse SOA Initiative will focus on the following areas:

It will define and maintain requirements and a roadmap that defines a SOA platform and encourage broader participation from different solution providers. All requirements are evaluated with respect to the overarching goal of providing an interoperable SOA Platform. Requirements to integrate with technologies that are not part of the SOA Platform are considered out of scope by the SOA IWG.
It will define the technical requirements for an Eclipse package "Eclipse SOA" and specify the set of relevant Eclipse projects (so called "Eclipse SOA projects") to implement these requirements. The initial set of relevant projects is listed in the appendix. This set of Eclipse SOA projects will be revised on a regular basis.
It will collaborate with the Eclipse Packaging Project (EPP) to deliver an extensible Eclipse SOA package branded with a brand to be established (see 5.1.)
It will create a set of best practices and extension mechanisms that simplify the use of the Eclipse SOA platform by a wide range of application developers and SOA vendors through a common set of test suites, training materials and documentation. (That may belong into the new top-level project)
It will develop a consistent communication and promotion program to help raise the awareness of the Eclipse SOA platform in the software industry. The promotion program includes:
1. The establishment of a brand including logo (see a draft in the attachment), which can be used for marketing purposes under certain rules. The rules will be governed in the Eclipse SOA Initiative as well.
2. The promotion of products and services of its members around the Eclipse SOA platform on the website of the Eclipse SOA Initiative.
It will define measurable criteria that allow interested parties outside the Eclipse SOA Initiative to benefit from their commitment to the Eclipse SOA platform. The fulfilment of these criteria needs to be approved by the Steering Committee. Currently, four distinct groups of parties have been identified that should be addressed by such a program. The program does include a listing on the website of the Eclipse SOA Initiative:
1. Product vendors: Product vendors that build products based on Eclipse SOA platform will be eligible to use the "Eclipse SOA Product" logo for the specific product and training materials.
2. Add-in vendors: Product vendors that create add-ins to Swordfish or any other Eclipse SOA component will be eligible to use the "Eclipse SOA Add-in" logo.
3. System integrators: System integrators that demonstrate their expertise in using Eclipse SOA technology in customer projects are eligible to use the "Eclipse SOA Integrator" logo. The logo can also be used for training materials by these system integrators.
4. Industry Working Group Members: Members of the Eclipse SOA Initiative contributing to the Eclipse SOA platform will be eligible to use the "Eclipse SOA Member" logo.

Note, that membership in the Eclipse SOA Initiative is not a prerequisite for the product vendors, add-in vendors and system integrators. In order to provide incentives to A) form a coherent and integrated SOA platform, and B) to promote adoption, there will be a set of criteria for product vendors and system integrator. This set of criteria will cover as well for the tooling and as well for the runtime. The fulfilment of either tooling only or runtime only will be not sufficient to use the logo for product vendor or system integrators.

The Eclipse SOA Initiative will not create or publish a specification as part of its deliverables.