A composite application is a distributed implementation of an application, in which it spans several application servers and crosses platform boundaries. This circumstance can create an operations challenge. The condition has gotten worse with the advent of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) because many applications have become loosely coupled, meaning that programs can find connections and services at run time, depending on the available environment. Operations management for composite applications is a complex issue. Applications are generally designed based on functionality, not manageability. An operator has to rely on management tools to decode any problem on these applications and recover them. This paper describes an approach for designing a management solution for operators to manage composite applications. It also provides step-by-step instructions for implementing this solution for a sample application, the Trader application, which has been enhanced with Web Services calls and access to Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) mediation functions.

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is a major new trend for application architecture. It allows you to build applications as components as defined using a Web Services Description Language (WSDL) file. You can implement applications in different servers, even different platforms. You can modify application components and workflow logic easily in execution, allowing a flexible application structure. Implementation of the client and the server side is also masked by the use of enterprise service bus, which allows a different server implementation to be provided without the need to modify the client, or, different clients can use the same server implementation. The highly flexible and distributed nature of SOA-based applications is its primary strength and the source of its appeal. However, when a problem arises, this flexible nature also causes a greater problem in pinpointing the source of problem. SOA also requires a disciplined management effort to ensure that operational changes do not disrupt overall availability. The IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager (ITCAM) family of products directly assists services specialists who implement and manage distributed applications. We illustrate the management needs for SOA-based applications and demonstrate how Tivoli products can address these application environment needs. The overall solution that we use includes ITCAM for SOA, ITCAM for WebSphere, ITCAM for Response Time Tracking, OMEGAMON XE for Messaging, and Tivoli Business Service Manager. Services special

SOA management provides best practices and software for managing and monitoring SOA composite applications and supporting infrastructure. This IBM Redpaper focuses on the following aspects of SOA management: - Introduction to the key concepts of SOA management. - Best practices for defining non-functional requirements and SLAs. - Guidance on how to identify what resources should be managed at the time of the solution analysis and design, and by discovery in the runtime. - How to build an integrated Tivoli Monitoring Server - Enterprise Portal (TEP) console to manage and monitor resources for SOA composite applications using ITCAM products. - How to verify the monitoring functionality by performing an application walkthrough and triggering the monitoring conditions. - How to create an SLA and report in Tivoli Service Level Advisor.