Packaged Composite Applications: An O'Reilly Field Guide to Enterprise Software

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding overview of the next wave in enterprise IT!
Review: I looked around for public information on these new applications (Packaged Composite Applications) that SAP and others are now introducing. SAP calls them xApps, and there are others out there too. There isn't much available yet, but luckily Dan Woods has this well written volume available.

Woods' book is an in-depth study of the latest enterprise application technology. Althought it may seem to focus a bit on SAP, the principles apply to every vendor's applications. The platforms may vary from company to company, but the key concepts are applicable.

In today's economic environment, companies are looking for ways to leverage, and not replace, the IT investments they have made over the past several years. Packaged Composite Applications (PCAs) are a clever way to make use of the IT infrastructure that alreay exists, and make it solve new business problems. This is not the same thing as EAI - but of course that is a part of it. PCAs are complete applications, which make use of web services to accomplish what could not be done a few years ago.

Dan Woods' book is a great starting point for anyone looking to take the next step in IT, and who wants to understand the principles behind this new technology.