SOA Commentary

Please comment on Services-Oriented Architecture (current state and future viability).

Services is one of the most overused and least commonly defined words in IT today (discussing Services in both SOA and Managed Services contexts at the same time makes for a challenging conversation). A close runner-up is Architecture.

Having them both in the name of an IT construct still somewhat frightens me.

My comments today on SOA will be brief. I believe that SOA is a new, fancy IT-ism for an older concept called Enterprise Architecture carried to its logical conclusion or goal.

Enterprise Architecture is all about common business services as instantiated in technology. That happens via an end-to-end EA process reaching back to the business. SOA simply articulates that differently. The technology behind them is the same.

I’m not sure if SOA has the staying power of EA. If pressed, I’d speculate that SOA would eventually diminish in the IT lexicon, as EA efforts are successful in reaching the same goal using processes in place now.