For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

The Five Most Valuable SOA Governance Practices

Survey Ranks Broad SOA Governance Practices Above Detailed Practices

by Randy Heffner, September 22, 2009

A recent Forrester survey showed that SOA governance increases SOA satisfaction and that each of 12 different SOA governance practices has a positive correlation with higher SOA satisfaction. Which of the 12 should SOA users focus on first? Our survey . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Taking The Fog Out Of Cloud Computing: Planning For Security And Risk Management

by Randy Heffner, September 22, 2009

Architectural planning for an organization's use of cloud computing products and services should focus first on the biggest differences between cloud computing and traditional computing options, and security and risk management (SRM) concerns are among . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

SOA Security 2009: Four Solution Patterns

A Two-Dimensional Continuum For Diverse SOA Security Solutions

by Randy Heffner, September 14, 2009

Architects crafting their organization's strategy and architecture for service-oriented architecture (SOA) security have a wide diversity of security requirements, business scenarios, and application infrastructure to deal with. To set a solid direction . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Survey Results Show SOA Governance Improves SOA Benefit Realization

All 12 SOA Governance Practices Correlate With Higher SOA Satisfaction

by Randy Heffner, September 10, 2009

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is mainstream: 75% percent of respondents from Global 2000 enterprises say their company will be using SOA by the end of 2009. However, across both enterprises and SMBs, 20% of SOA users are struggling enough with achieving . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

SOA Centers Of Excellence: The Five Most Valuable Practices That Keep SOA On Track

Survey Ranks Governance As More Important Than Training For SOA COEs

by Randy Heffner, August 28, 2009

Among the ways to keep a service-oriented architecture (SOA) initiative on track, forming a center of excellence (COE) is a frequently named option. Indeed, a recent Forrester survey shows that having an SOA COE correlates with higher satisfaction with . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

SOA Security 2009: Products And Specifications

Selecting Standards, Specifications, And Products For SOA Security

by Randy Heffner, August 20, 2009

As enterprise architects set their organization's strategy for service-oriented architecture (SOA) security, they will have to filter through a variety of standards, emerging specifications, and products that can contribute features and functions for . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

SOA Security 2009: Requirements And Design

Understanding Your SOA Security Requirements And Iterative Solution Design

by Randy Heffner, July 16, 2009

In industry discussions about SOA, external integration is treated as the benchmark indicator of SOA security maturity: If it's secure enough for external integration, SOA must be secure. By that benchmark, 30% of SOA users think SOA security is mature . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Across All Vertical Industry Groups, The Majority Of SOA Users Are Expanding Its Use

SOA Satisfaction Is High; Usage Patterns Vary By Industry

by Randy Heffner, May 28, 2009

Across Forrester's seven vertical industry groups, service-oriented architecture (SOA) penetration ranges from 75% among utilities and telecom enterprises to 49% for public sector enterprises. Current SOA users are, on the whole, satisfied in all verticals . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

SOA Is Far From Dead — But It Should Be Buried

Doing SOA Right Opens The Door To A Much Bigger Architecture Vision

by Randy Heffner, May 11, 2009

Sparked by a tinderbox of economic jitters and technology backlash, a recent thread of industry discussion cries out, "SOA is dead!" Although many have had fun with the discussion, it is in fact quite misguided. No prior industry initiative for IT architecture . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Architectural Business Value: An Architect's Proper Contribution To Packaged Apps Selection

Using Forrester's TEI Methodology To Financially Value Architectural Concerns

by Randy Heffner, March 2, 2009

If they do it right, enterprise architects can add tremendous value to their organization's selection of a packaged application solution (and other technology decisions). The key to success is to frame your contribution around the business and financial . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Taking The Fog Out Of Cloud Computing: Platform-As-A-Service

Begin Building PaaS Into Your Application Platform Strategy

by Randy Heffner, February 10, 2009

As part of their application platform strategies, enterprise architects should become familiar with platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offerings. PaaS is one of the multiple categories of offerings that fly under the vague and often ill-used banner of "cloud . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

SOA Policy Management: Vendors And Products

The Market Landscape For SOA Policy Management Infrastructure And Services

by Randy Heffner, February 6, 2009

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) policy management is an important and emerging subset of SOA strategy, SOA governance, and SOA platform planning. Because SOA policy features and functions are arising within multiple types of products, many different . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Web Services Security Specifications: WS-Security Achieves Critical Mass Of User Adoption

by Randy Heffner, January 5, 2009

Current use of WS-Security doubled over the past two years: Now 30% of enterprises pursuing service-oriented architecture (SOA) use WS-Security as part of their SOA and Web services security strategy. Forrester believes that this gives WS-Security critical . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Establishing A Solid Architecture Foundation For SOA Policy Infrastructure

Plan To Extend Your SOA Platform With SOA Policy Management

by Randy Heffner, November 24, 2008

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) policy adds important business and technical flexibility to an SOA-based solution, and it requires coordinated use of features and functions from multiple types of software tools and infrastructure products. Architects . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Pursuing SOA In Hard Times

Adjusting Best Practices For SOA When Resources Are Tight

by Randy Heffner, November 11, 2008

Big bang approaches to service-oriented architecture (SOA) are hard to justify at any time but near impossible to justify in hard times. Instead, you must tie SOA progress directly to current-day solution delivery projects. This presents a big risk: Tactical . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

EA Pros: Must-Read Research In An Economic Downturn

by Gene Leganza, Randy Heffner, October 28, 2008

Economists are debating the length and depth of the economic impact of the credit crunch and the October market meltdown. What can enterprise architects do to survive or — dare we think it — excel during an economic downturn? Enterprise architects must . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Building A Strong SOA Policy Life Cycle

Integrate Policy Into Your SOA Governance And Service Life-Cycle Processes

by Randy Heffner, September 9, 2008

Policy management builds added flexibility and business value to your strategy for service-oriented architecture (SOA). Achieving these benefits requires you to enhance your SOA processes and add new features to your SOA infrastructure. From service portfolio . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

How To Get Started On SOA Policy Management

Increase Your SOA Strategy's Business And Technical Flexibility

by Randy Heffner, August 26, 2008

Policy-based processing increases flexibility by allowing key business and technical decisions to be easily visible and changeable rather than being hard-coded into applications. With service-oriented architecture (SOA), policy is emerging as a generalized . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

A Practical Definition Of "SOA Policy"

Reconciling Divergent Industry Perspectives On "Policy"

by Randy Heffner, August 26, 2008

As service-oriented architecture (SOA) matures in the marketplace, SOA policy management will become an increasingly important aspect of SOA-based business and technical flexibility. However, the term "SOA policy" is, at best, ambiguous. At least three . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Topic Overview: Service-Oriented Architecture For Enterprise Architects

by Randy Heffner, Larry Fulton, August 18, 2008

Most architects now recognize that service-oriented architecture (SOA) is much more than Web services (WS) standards and better application integration. SOA continues to gain industry recognition as a key element of strategic business transformation — . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Topic Overview: Service-Oriented Architecture For Apps Dev And Program Management Pros

by Randy Heffner, Mike Gilpin, August 18, 2008

For a single, isolated solution delivery project, it's OK to think of service-oriented architecture (SOA) as just Web services (WS) standards for better application integration: Your application needs something from another one, and WS technology bridges . . .

For CIOs

Topic Overview: Service-Oriented Architecture For CIOs

by Randy Heffner, Alexander Peters, Ph.D., August 15, 2008

The worst CIO misunderstanding about service-oriented architecture (SOA) is to think of it only as another technical initiative for software reuse. Although SOA's reuse potential is real and good, its business impact goes much further: In Forrester surveys, . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

SOA Adoption: Technology Diversity Accelerators

The Technology Diversity Factors That Drive Earlier SOA Adoption

by Randy Heffner, July 23, 2008

Although it is no surprise to say that technology diversity drives adoption of service-oriented architecture (SOA), Forrester's survey data shows patterns in the use of development platforms, development languages, and application platform vendors that . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

SOA Adoption: Strong Similarities Across Verticals

SOA Penetration Rates Are Similar; The Differences Are In The Focus Of SOA Use

by Randy Heffner, June 16, 2008

Across industry verticals, the rates of service-oriented architecture (SOA) adoption among enterprises are more similar than they are different. Broad-based use of and plans for SOA indicate that SOA's applicability is general in nature and not specific . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

How To Build Your SOA Platform

To Evolve An SOA Platform, Build From Tactical Needs Toward A Strategic Vision

by Randy Heffner, May 16, 2008

Building an effective service-oriented architecture (SOA) platform requires cohesive integration of both new product categories, such as SOA repositories and enterprise service buses (ESBs), and existing product categories, to which vendors are making . . .