In SOA's case there are a series of options to choose from, read on as we take a closer at one of the many initiatives in this space: The Eclipse SOA Tools platform.

Lets start by mentioning what sets Eclipse apart from others choices in this area. Eclipse is an open source foundation backed by over 100 of the biggest names in enterprise software, a structure which not only guarantees a product road map established by a wide industry consensus, but also one that has limited adoption barriers, being an open source project.

Though this sets Eclipse apart ideologically speaking, you should also be aware that Eclipse is more than an isolated initiative for SOA tools, since it provides federated support for many aspects related to software development tools. Initially conceived as a Java IDE, Eclipse has branched out into other development languages like PHP and C++, as well as additional functionalities, along the lines of testing, monitoring, reporting and, of course, more recently into the SOA landscape.