I have been thinking about multiple application types, patterns trying to label all the styles of applications we see in our world. Multiple triggers for these thoughts 1) This whitepaper by mulesoft on Evolution of SOA 2) Three Gartner magic quadrants related to application infrastructure here 3) arrival of Java EE 6, more info here
And in general people wondering, Is SOA dead? Is BPM worth the investment? should we go back to Java and not BPEL?
Here are two application maps I put together, please navigate and comment what kind of application you are building and what kind you want to build in future? (Also please mention if I missed any application styles)
That is a Technology view of applications, however it is important to know where the application fits in the overall business process of the Company. Here is another view showing applications based on business processes. There are many more business processes and applications, the picture is showing some of them.
So the questions one could ask for every project are -
1) Which business process does this application will be part of? e.g. customer booking process through customer service agents in a logistics company
2) What business objectives and benefits (competitive advantage?) does the application address/bring? e.g. carrying most profitable cargo, increased revenue
3) What technology platform will the application be built on? e.g. Oracle Fusion Middleware
4) What application pattern or style does this application has? e.g. SOA style application
