abstract:Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is a software design and software architecture design pattern based on discrete pieces of software that provide application functionality as services to the business, known as Service-orientation, it is independent of any vendor, product, technology or industry trend.http://msdn.
An elevator-pitch definition of service oriented architecture would be: Loosely-coupled services with well-defined interfaces that provide business functionality and can be shared or reused across and beyond the enterprise.
Much of the work around service oriented architecture in recent years has been to promote the de-coupling of business logic from underlying technology.