Forrester

Why Read This Report

Communities among developers or customers that share a particular interest or use the same products are well known in the software industry. Some software vendors actually initiate communities to create more marketing momentum, incubate new standards, or understand their customer requirements better. All kinds of communities have flooded the service-oriented architecture (SOA) space, and vendors are struggling to select which community to engage with. To help software vendors, Forrester has developed a categorization of the vendor-initiated communities and a strategic approach to selecting the right communities based on company size and business model. We assessed the major communities that promise value around the adoption of SOA and the challenge of SOA governance. We also provide practical guidance on community membership selection by applying our approach to specific examples.