Ask 10 people the question: What is SOA? You will most likely get 10 different answers. Chances are that in more than 50 percent of the cases, the word "Web services" will be a part of the answer. Another 20 percent will talk about process orchestration, XML, integration, and so on. All of these answers definitely describe either the elements of SOA or the components used for the implementation of SOA. One of the technology paradigms that does not instantly come to mind though is "business rules."
The association of business rules technologies with service orientation is rather new, although the technology itself has been around for a while. Business rules and process orchestration make a rather interesting combination.
