When I first heard Microsoft's announcement that it was combining
its Connected Systems Division and Data and Storage Platforms Division into a
new business unit, it seemed as if the death pangs of SOA having top billing at Microsoft were being felt.
The economy has led many IT organizations to think twice
about funding forward-looking projects, and SOA initiatives have a reputation
for being costly. However, Microsoft's response was that it will continue to
invest resources into SOA, and it is taking the same approach that the rest of
the industry has learned: Big bang SOA projects are not successful customer
engagements.
Its decision seems more pragmatic. There are
"synergies" between the application and storage tiers, but I suspect
that the reorganization was more about operational efficiency. Every good
business should periodically reexamine how it operates in response to customer
buying behavior and other conditions, including the economy.