Insystem administration,orchestration is the automatedconfiguration, coordination,[1] deployment, development, andmanagement ofcomputer systems andsoftware.[2]Many tools exist to automate server configuration and management.
Orchestration is often discussed in the context ofservice-oriented architecture,virtualization,provisioning,converged infrastructure and dynamicdata center topics. Orchestration in this sense is about aligning the business request with the applications, data, and infrastructure.[3]
In the context ofcloud computing, the main difference betweenworkflow automation and orchestration is that workflows are processed and completed as processes within a single domain for automation purposes, whereas orchestration includes a workflow and provides a directed action towards larger goals and objectives.[2]
In this context, and with the overall aim to achieve specific goals and objectives (described through thequality of service parameters), for example, meet application performance goals using minimized cost[4] and maximize application performance within budget constraints,[5] cloud management solutions also encompass frameworks for workflow mapping and management.In the context of application programming interfaces (APIs),API orchestration refers to the process of integrating multiple APIs into a unified system in order to streamline workflows and enhance user experience. The approach coordinates the flow of data, the execution sequence, and the dependencies among different APIs to achieve a defined business objective. API orchestration is commonly applied in environments that utilize microservices architectures or legacy systems, where the interaction of several APIs is required to complete a task.[6]