Level 4 provides continuous feedback on the performance and business impact of the processes implemented at Level 3. The key focus at this level is collecting data and providing that data to business users, enabling them to transform the way they respond to events.

In our example, a Level 4 project could introduce logging and a service to monitor business activity. These functions provide a collection and display process for business managers to view their trade routing operation and for compliance officers to monitor trading behaviors of their staff and customers.

Level 5: Optimized business services

At this final level, business-optimization rules are added, and the SOA becomes the nervous system for the enterprise. Automatic responses to the measurements and displays of Level 4 allow an organization to take immediate action on events.

A Level 5 project can take the request messages entering the ESB and route that information to an event-stream processor. This service correlates the behavior of all traders across multiple execution venues and identifies important patterns. This information might be used to execute new trades or stop a rogue trader who is out of view of compliance officers.