techbizcult

The last post explained the first hurdle to optimising SOA: the disconnect between technology and the business. This post I'll build on that list. Disconnect number 2: human resources. Desiging a service requires a wide appreciation of: - business process besides program flow (retain an appreciation of business need) - information besides data (retain an appreciation of business need) - SOA architecture and repositories Retain an appreciation: (a) of SOA governance and (b) that the service will be part of a bigger SOA portfolio. You may be fortunate to have the right IT management who have the mandate to keep the dual edged type of focus across both business and technology. This dual focus is a pretty rare thing for those involved in service design and development, so advocacy toward management may be what is needed in order to achieve that dual focus. Final disconnect: SOA governance - real life versus best practice. I've mentioned governance already but it sta...

November 23, 2008 SOA has matured to well beyond start-of-the-century vendor speak. Now, with Frank Kenney's blog fresh in my mind, I want to focus on achieving optimal SOA. As with most best practices, achieving optimal SOA is actually easier said than done. This is because a SOA architecture is typically driven by an ad-hoc case to meet a technical need and not a business need. Currently there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to support this. Naturally the case for optimising SOA does assume that a mature SOA strategy is already in place. Otherwise, you will need to complete that pre-requisite step of properly architecting your SOA strategy. Firstly look at the broad principles: start with governance including ownership and deployment policies. Then look at overarching approaches to security, performance, business scope and interoperability. This will help define the requirements for an ESB (Enterprise Service Bus). If you have an existing service repository then you will w...

Gartner's Frank Kenney has just posted a clever take on the state of SOA - as highlighted by Darryl Plummer at the Gartner IT Symposium 2008. Plenty of space for self reflection for those involved in SOA implementations. I think Frank's letter reinforces the need - besides the technical aspects - to apply at least an equal focus on the business aspects of SOA - these are: • supporting a business need • efficient code re-use • service portfolio management • the service lifecycle I will expand on the "service lifecycle" concept very soon. Til next time...

I wanted to outline some key messages coming straight from Gartner's IT Symposium this week in Sydney. • Firstly, in the current climate seize the opportunity to 'modernise' IT - getting your house in order; and thus build the foundations upon which business growth can, when times improve, take place. • But don't neglect to improve the bothway dialogue between IT and business, using influencers and politics where they can be of advantage, hence more ably demonstrating the value that IT offers to business. • Ensure that for structured integration projects you have carefully measured - and understand - the value proposition because that is what the business will be wanting to hear. More thoughts to follow next time.