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

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 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

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

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

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

All Interfaces Are Not Created Equal

Adjust Life-Cycle Management Policies To Improve Agility

by Larry Fulton, July 1, 2008

Conventional wisdom regarding service-oriented architecture (SOA) governance — or, more specifically, SOA service life-cycle management — would suggest that more governance is always better. Yet, treating every interface equally can increase the burden . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

SOA Governance Communities: Which One Should A Vendor Join?

An Overview Of The Vendor Communities That Enable SOA Interoperability

by Stefan Ried, Ph.D., June 25, 2008

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, . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

How To Make MDM And SOA Better Together

Use SOA Principles To Simplify MDM Delivery

by Rob Karel, Larry Fulton, April 24, 2008

Master data management (MDM) initiatives seek to deliver a single, trusted version of enterprise data, while service-oriented architecture (SOA) programs try to provide shared business and information services for key business processes. MDM and SOA initiatives . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Scoping Strategic SOA Projects

Five Steps Sourcing Professionals Will Need To Take

by Tim Sheedy, March 26, 2008

While many large enterprises have already made the move toward enterprise service-oriented architecture (SOA), other firms are just starting down this path now. And in many cases, no one in the organization really understands the full scope of an enterprise . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Enterprise Architecture Needs To Plan For Outsourced SOA

The Impact Of SOA On Offshoring: The User Perspective

by Jost Hoppermann, Pascal Matzke, February 14, 2008

To make service-oriented architecture most effective, a strong relationship between the business and IT needs to be in place. Introducing an IT services vendor creates a triangular relationship with its own challenges — and benefits. Depending on the . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Service Providers Need To Better Prepare For Offshore SOA Projects

The Impact Of SOA On Offshoring: The Service Provider Perspective

by Pascal Matzke, Jost Hoppermann, February 14, 2008

As companies embark on their journey toward implementing service-oriented architectures (SOAs), they require assistance and support from service providers with sufficient skills and experience in tackling the ongoing alignment of the project with their . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Defining SOA Service Life-Cycle Management

Understanding A Core SOA Governance Process

by Larry Fulton, January 24, 2008

The objective of service-oriented architecture (SOA) governance is to ensure that an SOA strategy delivers maximum value and SOA service life-cycle management is a fundamental SOA governance activity. The three processes within life-cycle management — . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

How To Fit Service Providers To Your SOA Needs

by Tim Sheedy, November 20, 2007

Some organizations that have made the commitment to SOA are not yet witnessing the full benefits. While this may be justifiable for some, in general it's not an acceptable outcome for either the business in relation to meeting its objectives or IT in . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Canonical Information Modeling Is Key To Many Information-As-A-Service And SOA Strategies

by Mike Gilpin, November 15, 2007

Forrester recently surveyed 1,017 decision-makers at North American and European enterprises on the adoption of service-oriented architecture (SOA) and related technologies including information-as-a-service (IaaS). Compared to other SOA technologies . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

SOA Competency Planning And Educational Resources

The Goal Of SOA Training, Sample Starting Points For Your Training Plan

by Randy Heffner, June 26, 2007

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is here now; it's just not evenly distributed. In many organizations, enterprise architects are the first to investigate and understand SOA, but they then face the challenge of getting the rest of the organization up . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Talking About SOA  (244 KB PPT)

by Larry Fulton, April 6, 2007

The following slides provide a discussion map for conducting effective SOA discussions.

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

SOA Repositories: Crucial To SOA Governance Success

by Larry Fulton, October 10, 2006

Effective governance is essential to the success of your service-oriented architecture (SOA) strategy, and an SOA repository is essential for effective SOA governance. The core of SOA governance is the management of the service life cycle. Successful . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Key SOA Success Factors: A Starter Kit For SOA

by Randy Heffner, July 25, 2006

The three keys for starting down the road to service-oriented architecture (SOA) are: 1) adopt an evolutionary approach; 2) focus on business pain points; and 3) use street-level strategy to get there. Within this broad framework, there are different . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

SOA Investment Strategies

Case Studies On How Enterprises Are Paying For SOA

by Randy Heffner, May 19, 2006

With increasing adoption of service-oriented architecture (SOA) comes increasing priority to answer the question "How do I pay for it?" The best SOA investment strategies use portfolio management, lightweight SOA visions, and an evolutionary, street-level . . .