Two emerging architectural styles are becoming popular: Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and appliances. Both are becoming ever more relevant and popular in enterprise architectures. But SOA and appliances are very different architectural styles. SOA supports distributed architecture while the appliance represents the epitome of standalone applications. Both SOA and appliances have distinct advantages and drawbacks. How should organizations evaluate and choose which architecture is right for them?
There are no standard definitions for the terms "SOA" and "appliance." To provide some clarity, I'll briefly describe each approach.
