White Paper
Ensuring Service Enablement
from SOA
Last Updated: 5th October, 2007
AppLabs.com
Page 2
© 2007 AppLabs
App_WhitePaper_Service_Enablement_from_SOA_1v00
Introduction
The single reason that you use IT within your organization is
for service enablement. IT has proven itself to be essential
to provide the levels of service that customers demand.
Implemented well, the operating costs of IT systems
provide many opportunities to serve customers’ needs
and provide operating margins commensurate with the
profitability demanded by the organization’s stakeholders.
Now, the concept of business services is being embraced
by enterprise IT organizations through the adoption of the
Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) paradigm. SOA is IT’s
response to the demands from the business that IT be
more in tune with the needs of the business. By moving
from a software systems development paradigm to a
business service development paradigm, it is hoped that IT
departments and business units will become more aligned.
This holds out the promise of business and IT being able
to cooperate and manage together using a set of shared
principles and a common understanding of the overall
business objectives.
If you are implementing, or considering implementing,
a Service Oriented Architecture
(SOA) within your
organization, there are some simple questions you must ask.
Firstly, what does SOA mean to you? Secondly, what are
the business benefits you expect to accrue from your SOA
implementation? Finally, if you are currently implementing
SOA, how do you know that the implementation is on track
to deliver the promised business benefits, on time and on
budget?
What does SOA mean for you?
If SOA is the vision and the way forward provided to you
by your suppliers, then ‘caveat emptor’ (buyer beware!)
applies to you. We all want to have ‘A Good Thing’ and
SOA does have a lot of potential to be ‘A Good Thing’ but
SOA has become a rolling bandwagon, taking many to a
place where they really should not be. There