We have already defined ten SOA frameworks, of which six essential ones are quite SOA-specific. We will follow this notion until the last page, but we are not too eager to defend this logical segregation and will not force you to accept it blindly. If you already have a working framework model based on TOGAF (http://www.opengroup.org/togaf/) or ITIL (http://www.itil-officialsite.com/), that's perfectly fine. We chose this framework model for three reasons. First, this simplified model with concise but distinctive layers is quite well-accepted by both groups of practitioners—developers and operational personnel.

Second, and most importantly, this model is derived from Oracle's service implementation methodology (discussed later in the chapter). The third reason is purely empirical and based on Oracle's history of acquisitions and integration of different components into a solid application portfolio.