SOA-Based Platform Use in Development and Operation of Automation Solutions: Challenges, Opportunities, and Supporting Pillars towards Emerging Trends

Abstract

The paper which is based on a literature review combined with a case study, spanning manufacturing and process industry contexts, set out to determine whether there is an emerging trend to use a service-oriented architecture (SOA)-based platform supporting microservices while developing and operating automation solutions while also considering effects and implications. The results point out that there is a significant potential, during the lifecycle, to save significant engineering time/effort during the development-related and operations phases while integrating systems and adding new types of sensors or other equipment. In addition, the results indicate that there are also business development advantages when promoting an SOA-based architecture supporting microservices towards monolith architectures and that a cybersecurity baseline can be included as part of the platform baseline. However, there is a threshold, before the benefits can be reaped, in terms of the need to build up a competency and skills set concerning the platform, SOA and microservices, as many providers of automation solutions are still doing the development in a traditional old monolithic style with hard-coded integrations between components and systems. Finally, we see an emerging trend to use a competent SOA-based platform in the development and operation of automation solutions.

A Framework for Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)-Based IoT Application Development

“…In general, the most significant benefits from using SOA are the reuse of technology and the agility to integrate new devices and modules in a "plug-and-play" manner according to the system's needs [33,34]. The reuse and maintenance of software modules enables, by using small, independent interconnected services instead of complex monoliths, multiple added values in general IT and cloud contexts: service reutilization, reduced complexity, faster testing cycles and agile development due to fewer dependencies code-wise, and less support required as a consequence of fewer bugs [34]. Thus, SOA's goal is to allow such a platform to link IoT applications and their services by uniform and structured formats, as well as to enable abstraction of underlying implementation complexity.…”