All integration artifacts running on IBM® WebSphere® ESB are represented as components with well defined interfaces.
In the Service Component Architecture (SCA), a service component, also called an SCA component, defines a service implementation. Service components each have an interface and can be wired together to form a module deployed to WebSphere ESB.
This creates a flexible runtime environment and enables changing any part of an application without affecting the other parts. For example, it is possible to replace a human task representing an approval with a business rule representing automatic approval – simply by replacing the service components in the assembly diagram – without changing either a business process or the caller of the business process.
In addition, service components can interact with other applications on enterprise information systems (EIS) with IBM WebSphere Adapters.
On top of the runtime infrastructure of supporting services and the service-oriented architecture core, WebSphere Process Server offers a variety of ready-to-use SCA components that can be used in integration applications. Mediation flows are implemented in an SCA component (a mediation flow component) but for WebSphere Process Server modules they provide a supporting service role.