The document discusses Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL). It defines SOA as an architectural style that allows for interoperability and flexibility. BPEL is introduced as an XML-based language used to specify business processes composed of discrete web services. Key concepts covered include the need for SOA to address heterogeneous systems and changing business needs, the role of services, and how BPEL allows the orchestration of services to create composite applications and implement business processes.