Datasheet

c01_1 07/08/2008 8

a policy enforcement model, which is realized in the form of vari-

ous policy enforcement mechanisms such as governance boards

and committees; governance processes, checkpoints, and reviews;

and governance enabling technology and tools.

This SOA governance deﬁnition will be used for the remainder of this

book.

Weill and Ross emphasize the allocation of decision rights in their book

on IT governance, which is really the process of deciding what to do, how to

do it, and who has a vote. Relating our deﬁnition to theirs, SOA governance

is focused on setting priorities and applying SOA to the appropriate uni-

verse of business challenges; SOA governance involves implementing SOA

according to company processes, architecture, and technology standards,

and in alignment with business priorities; and ﬁnally, SOA governance ex-

plicitly involves the business and IT stakeholders in the decision-making

process for input, review, and approval, and enforcement of key decisions

relating to SOA.

The challenge is, with SOA, there are many more ‘‘right things’’ to per-

form the ‘‘right way.’’ SOA governance adds many more architectural and

technology dimensions to the governance equation, as well as the horizontal

processes of a services/software development lifecycle (SDLC) that span de-

sign time activities, quality assurance and testing, and runtime governance

and operations. Thus, SOA governance includes fundamental elements of IT

governance, while adding many technical issues that require integration into

the governance calculus as well. As for the stakeholders, they are the same by

and large as the IT stakeholders except for two fundamental differences: First,

SOA done right offers a more direct business engagement model via process

modeling and analysis than previous IT architecture and development para-

digms offered; second, SOA requires more internal coordination across more

moving parts in order to for it to deliver on its business and IT promises.

GOVERNANCE AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

AND ALLOCATION

Many people equate governance with management and allocation of re-

sources and assets, such as ﬁnancial and budgeting decisions, human resour-

ces, and physical assets. Weill and Ross discuss governance of key categories

of assets, such as:

Human resources and personnel

Financial assets

8 THE SOA GOVERNANCE IMPERATIVE