Datasheet

c01_1 07/08/2008 24
PURSUE THE ‘‘RIGHT’’ SOA STRATEGY
A SOA strategy is critical to establishing the appropriate business and mis-
sion context for your SOA initiative. But what constitutes the ‘‘right’’ SOA
strategy? While there are recurring themes in our clients’ SOA goals and
objectives, the exact SOA strategies pursued are very much customized to
the specific requirements of a given organization. Agility. Faster time to
market. Reduced software maintenance costs. Faster application develop-
ment. Reduced application development costs. Reduced integration costs.
Be easier to do business with. Software reuse. We believe the SOA strategy
must be business aligned and mapped to urgent ‘‘fix-it-or-else’’ imperatives
in your organization. The following statements summarize what makes an
SOA strategy ‘‘right’’ for your organization.
&
Business aligned—maps to business and IT imperatives, supports busi-
ness or mission goals
&
Focuses on clear business or mission needs—addresses desired business
outcomes and has business sponsorship
&
Targets appropriate SOA opportunities within a realistic time horizon
using a SOA Opportunity Roadmap
&
Leverages SOA where services add value, make sense, solve business
problems or create new opportunities; SOA is not the solution for every
challenge you face.
&
Has a business case associated with it, but more importantly achieves
clear business value
SOA GOVERNANCE IMPLICATIONS
A well-conceived SOA strategy is essential so that SOA governance is
aligned with, and leads to the successful execution of, the SOA strat-
egy. The SOA strategy defines the ‘‘right SOA things’’ to focus on, tar-
geted at key enterprise imperatives, and sponsored at the executive
level.
An SOA strategy and roadmap is essential. You must have clear
business goals and alignment identified up front, and you must have
business support for SOA to maximize SOA value.
24 THE SOA GOVERNANCE IMPERATIVE