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SOA Watch: Best of times for SOA architects


By David S. Linthicum
October 15, 2008 — 
Times may be bad, but for those who “get” SOA, there are opportunities out there. If you’re a qualified SOA architect, you’re in high demand now, according to just-published data.

As TechTarget’s Rich Seeley recently reported, David Foote, co-founder, CEO and chief research officer for Foote Partners, thinks that those who understand SOA and can apply it within an enterprise should not have a problem finding a high-paying job. Foote’s firm tracks the demand for specific SOA certifications, which he describes as ranging from beginner and intermediate certifications to the "guru, master-level architect.” People who just plain grasp SOA and can be productive with the concepts within the context of a business are also in demand.

Foote doesn’t have to sell me; I’ve been getting a call a week from a headhunter looking for good SOA architects. Moreover, I’ve been watching Dice.com, where the number of openings for SOA has increased tenfold in the past six months. Typically, it’s consulting firms and the Forbes Global 2000 that are looking for SOA talent, but I’m also seeing searches by government agencies and nonprofits.

Meanwhile, the demand for training is huge. Analysts at ZapThink recently told me their SOA architect certification business is way up. I’m sure the other training organizations are experiencing similar growth. Interest in SOA content is climbing as well; for example, I’ve seen a much higher hit rate for my blogs and podcasts.

Could SOA be booming during an economic downturn? That seems to be the case—but the boom is being driven more by those looking for people than by technology.

So why is demand soaring for high-priced SOA talent? It’s really a matter of market maturation; indeed, I saw the same thing happen with EAI.

The initial interest in SOA was around innovative early adopters who were well-read, did internal presentations and went to conferences, but really did not do much around true architecture. Then mainstream IT picked up on SOA and dipped in a toe, experimenting with SOA concepts by applying them in funded projects.

Now, there are fully funded, large-scale projects that require SOA talent, which is still lacking in many organizations. In essence, business is getting serious about SOA, and the demand for SOA architects is outpacing the supply. “Most companies we talk to have architects, but they need five times as many,” Foote told Seeley.

The challenge is to find SOA architects who are actually SOA architects. I see and hear a lot of people out there who talk a good game but don’t really understand the first thing about the application of the core concepts of SOA. Thus, my fear is that in their rush to find SOA talent, many organizations may find that they hired architects who have led them down the wrong path by leaning too much on technology or, worse, by “managing by magazine”—in other words, chasing the hype, not the needs of the business.

Good SOA architects typically:

»
 Can speak the language of business and IT.They understand the core needs of the business and leverage the correct technology solutions to meet those needs.
»
 Understand how to work with complex technologies in challenging environments. SOA brings systemic change, and that means dealing with distributed architectures that affect many things, including people and organizations.
»
 Can drive toward a strategy through effective tactical implementations. It’s one thing to complete a project, but SOA is about architecture. Thus, you should have a strategy in mind as you move from project to project.
»
 Are experts in the available SOA technologies and in SOA best practices. Implementing SOA requires adoption of a process that’s built around the needs of the business. When you get to the technology selection phase, you need to work with many technological-solution patterns (for example, enterprise service buses) and technology that works within those patterns, such as a particular ESB. Just understanding what’s out there and how it works is a huge job in itself.
»
 Are able to work effectively with the resources they are given. Times are still tight, and you’ll find that there are no unlimited budgets out there. Good SOA architects can make do with the tools they have, achieving success by using the provided resources as effectively as possible.

Good luck to those looking for SOA architects—and to those SOA architects looking for jobs. Here’s hoping you find the right match.

Reach analyst David S. Linthicum at david@linthicumgroup.com.


Related Search Term(s): professional development, SOA & SaaS


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