Implementing SOA

The first step in the evolution of enterprise software is SOA implementation. It enables an organization to re-architect its software landscape to support changing strategies and thereby increases productivity. SOA’ s potential for business transformation is tremendous and the approach should be in a way that it does not demand huge investment of time and resources from the organization.

It’s not about replacing the organization’s existing software infrastructure; it’s about leveraging it.

SOA is also one of the four elements in the evolution towards software commoditization, which also encompasses open source technologies, offshoring, and software as a service, or SaaS. This commoditization trend will lead to cheaper prices and a radical change in enterprise software.

Advantages of going the SOA way

Within an SOA environment, companies can create business solutions without much delay. The architecture by definition treats technology assets as services; within an SOA, those services can be readily combined in infinite new ways to meet growing and changing customer demands.

A top-down, from-business-to-IT approach of SOA service development grants business users a greater stake in the development cycle. This therefore creates a direct channel for stakeholders because SOA service interfaces are based on each user's needs and direct input.

A well-planned SOA brings together influencers and decision makers throughout the organization to shape SOA implementation.

The result is a tight alignment of IT with business operations that listens to the needs of the people.

A key tool that SOA offers is the ability to ensure "process-oriented" development, aligning IT with the organization’s business needs and processes. Organizations can develop solutions based on interoperable, extensible, and proven architectures, giving them a strong foundation for rapid new application development and reuse. The net result is the ability to do more with less.

Organizations need to leverage a formal and reusable methodology based on SOA best practices; seeking out trusted advisors to work out through readiness assessment, repeatable process and framework development and workshops and training to achieve a strong SOA with a comfortable cultural change to support it. Also it is essential to work on the best platforms delivering record-setting performance while saving space and money.

By using an SOA approach to build composite applications, developers can create new business services without starting from scratch. They can more quickly create and deliver new products and services that support business goals.