Data in the context of SOA

The success of a service-oriented architecture is often in its logical data design. There are subtle differences between modeling a physical data store and a logical model to support the usage of data in services. Physical design concentrates on the system of record, optimizing the storage of data and access to that data in the most efficient way. On the other hand, services and processes deal with the usage and communication of data in the form of messages. This data should be structured in a way that the consumer will understand and include metadata about the message itself (such as the message sent time or source system) rather than about the physical storage of the data (such as last update details).

Note

Physical data models focus on the storage of data to ensure consistent use across the enterprise, ensuring attributes are stored in one and only one place. Logical service data models focus on the usage of data, ensuring the meaning of the data is included in...