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Sometimes SOA works, but mostly it does not

By David S. Linthicum

August 15, 2008 — (Page 1 of 3)

Recently, Burton Group told it like it is: They revealed information from their recent SOA survey, including the fact that SOA is working in some instances, but in many more instances companies are having trouble. And, as you may have guessed after following this column, it’s not the technology but the people who are hindering progress.

Indeed, according to Burton Group vice president and research director Anne Thomas Manes, many companies had nearly perfectly executed SOA implementations. However, this good news was quelled by the fact that in many other instances the initiative had yielded no increased agility, quicker time to market or project savings, because the business had no idea what was going on, SOA or no SOA.

Moreover, the study also found that users who break down corporate barriers, such as office politics, have a tendency to succeed, as do those who install proper governance and involve the business.

Summary: Work through your issues, consider the business and drive systemic change, and you'll reach SOA nirvana. No tricks about that.

Also, note that changing out the executive team and altering the culture is necessary for success. In some cases, the mere changing of the CIO caused the culture to change in support of SOA, and thus increased chances for success, if not guaranteed it. This is consistent with my experience as well; with new, more innovative management, they bring in people who are also innovative and thus alter the culture to prepare for the systemic change that defines SOA. Indeed, if you’re able to surround the notion of SOA with a business understanding, and people who understand the value and support its creation, then you’re about 80% of the way there… the technology is very easy.

On the downside, SOA does not seem to work for many companies. Burton Group found a 50% complete failure rate in the 20 companies studied, and another 30% were considered neither successful nor wholly failed. The results of the studies showed that many of the companies had indeed completed many “SOA” projects, but these projects were focused in a single instance of an integration problem, typically just exposing many Web services, which does not do much good. They are doing EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) really, and not SOA. There is a huge difference.

Related Search Term(s): SOA & SaaS

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SOA Software releases project-planning suite for SOA transition
Portfolio Manager provides a framework for SOA planning, helping developers prioritize services, understand dependencies, and plan architecture and governance processes, the company says. The product is marketed as being essential for creating road maps for transitioning to SOA Read More...

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