Breathing Life into SOA David Sprott

SOA is Dead Huh?

In January there was widespread debate about the status of SOA, sparked by a blog from industry analyst Burton Group titled SOA is Dead. The blog seemed to be widely misunderstood, but the core assertion was that: the name SOA is associated with techno-centric activity, past its sell by date and that the objectives of SOA will only be achieved by spectacular change. So how do you respond when you are challenged that SOA is Dead?

In January there was widespread debate about the status of SOA, sparked by a blog from industry analyst Burton Group titled SOA is Dead.

The blog seemed to be widely misunderstood, but the core assertion was that:

the name SOA is associated with techno-centric activity,

past its sell by date and

that the objectives of SOA will only be achieved by spectacular change.

So how do you respond when you are challenged that SOA is Dead?

SOA is NOT Dead "I smote the dragon, and there was much rejoicing!” I for one am happy that SOA has finally reached the trough of disillusionment. SOA needed to go through the hype cycle like most other technologies (e.g. artificial intelligence, internet technology, etc). Keith Frampton, Marlo Group Even without the sudden arrival of the current economic downturn, no doubt SOA would have one day reached the trough of disillusion, as all other disruptive paradigms did. Like any major shift, it will dilute pervasively into so many domains that at the end none use these words, although everybody use their infant technologies: just remember the initial buzz around Open Systems, Client/Server or Object Orientation. Francois Berot, HP Service Orientation isn't dead, but the effort to build an architecture out of Web service bricks is dead. Hank Simon, Lockheed Martin SOA is not the talk of the town anymore. But the good news is that in the Netherlands all major insurance companies are implementing SOA's. They are aware of the business value and the fact that an SOA implementation is hard work and takes several years (5-10). So my conclusion is: SOA is not dead, it will be implemented in those companies that can benefit most of it. Martin van den Berg, Sogeti If one views SOA as a verb and recognizes that regardless of what it is called that everything from Virtualization to Cloud Computing essentially requires a services based approach to infrastructure, process and data, you are a fool if you think it is dead.. Robert Deutsche, Principal Architect Extracts from CBDI Forum http:// www.linkedin.com/groups?gid =1464387

"I smote the dragon, and there was much rejoicing!” I for one am happy that SOA has finally reached the trough of disillusionment. SOA needed to go through the hype cycle like most other technologies (e.g. artificial intelligence, internet technology, etc). Keith Frampton, Marlo Group

Even without the sudden arrival of the current economic downturn, no doubt SOA would have one day reached the trough of disillusion, as all other disruptive paradigms did. Like any major shift, it will dilute pervasively into so many domains that at the end none use these words, although everybody use their infant technologies: just remember the initial buzz around Open Systems, Client/Server or Object Orientation. Francois Berot, HP

Service Orientation isn't dead, but the effort to build an architecture out of Web service bricks is dead. Hank Simon, Lockheed Martin

SOA is not the talk of the town anymore. But the good news is that in the Netherlands all major insurance companies are implementing SOA's. They are aware of the business value and the fact that an SOA implementation is hard work and takes several years (5-10). So my conclusion is: SOA is not dead, it will be implemented in those companies that can benefit most of it. Martin van den Berg, Sogeti

If one views SOA as a verb and recognizes that regardless of what it is called that everything from Virtualization to Cloud Computing essentially requires a services based approach to infrastructure, process and data, you are a fool if you think it is dead.. Robert Deutsche, Principal Architect

Extracts from CBDI Forum http:// www.linkedin.com/groups?gid =1464387

Six Primary Issues Many organizations are deep in the SOA tar pit, which we refer to as Service Oriented Anarchy. 1. Service Oriented Anarchy. The same old situation where IT departments go wild with the latest technology. 2. Over Emphasis on Service Architecture. It’s not just about architecture. It’s architecture and engineering and requires all the participants in the business systems delivery process to be thoroughly aware of their responsibilities. 3. Inadequate Skills. In many organizations the architects are fully conversant in SOA. But beyond that, there’s a host of people that are completely ignorant of the bigger picture. We need to fix that. 4. Insufficient Business Involvement. The service architecture must be developed with business involvement to make critical decisions on process and data standardization (or specialization) based on the business model and strategy. 5. Big SOA is Not Working. SOA is a journey and there are many benefits to be obtained with more modest ambitions. In today’s climate no one is going to buy high risk. 6. Lack of Planning. The most common cause of disappointing results is actually the absence of a proper plan for SOA adoption. Most organizations have inadequate capabilities in frameworks, process, life cycle infrastructure, governance, organization and management.

Many organizations are deep in the SOA tar pit, which we refer to as Service Oriented Anarchy.

1. Service Oriented Anarchy. The same old situation where IT departments go wild with the latest technology.

2. Over Emphasis on Service Architecture. It’s not just about architecture. It’s architecture and engineering and requires all the participants in the business systems delivery process to be thoroughly aware of their responsibilities.

3. Inadequate Skills. In many organizations the architects are fully conversant in SOA. But beyond that, there’s a host of people that are completely ignorant of the bigger picture. We need to fix that.

4. Insufficient Business Involvement. The service architecture must be developed with business involvement to make critical decisions on process and data standardization (or specialization) based on the business model and strategy.

5. Big SOA is Not Working. SOA is a journey and there are many benefits to be obtained with more modest ambitions. In today’s climate no one is going to buy high risk.

6. Lack of Planning. The most common cause of disappointing results is actually the absence of a proper plan for SOA adoption. Most organizations have inadequate capabilities in frameworks, process, life cycle infrastructure, governance, organization and management.

You Choose! Listen to the Marketing? Remove SOA from the vocabulary Make a massive shift in the way IT operates Make a spectacular commitment to change Make an assessment of your current SOA Status. Develop short and long term SOA vision. Develop strategies for each stream. Make a short term SOA plan. Treat SOA like any other business change program – work on normal ROI criteria. CBDI Advice?

Listen to the Marketing?

Remove SOA from the vocabulary

Make a massive shift in the way IT operates

Make a spectacular commitment to change

Make an assessment of your current SOA Status.

Develop short and long term SOA vision.

Develop strategies for each stream.

Make a short term SOA plan.

Treat SOA like any other business change program – work on normal ROI criteria.

CBDI SOA Roadmap and Planning Methodology Streams: Organization neutral topics for organizing and coordinating work packages to develop SOA capabilities Maturity Phases: Sets of SOA capabilities that facilitate planning, communications, management and measurement of SOA capabilities to guide progress towards SOA vision Capability Plan: Capability needs are defined at the intersection of stream and maturity phase Early Learning Integrated Enterprise Ecosystem Applied MANAGEMENT ARCHITECTURE INFRASTRUCTURE FRAMEWORK & PROCESS ORGANIZATION PROJECTS & PROGRAMS

Candidate SOA Adoption Strategies for Today’s Economic Climate - 1 If a logical data architecture doesn’t exist, reengineer AS IS view from existing database definitions. Refine and use to drive common service specifications and Service Information Models Data Architecture Identify useful and priority core business services that can easily be surfaced from existing legacy applications Legacy Portfolio Plan Develop high level Service Portfolio Plan to guide immediate and short term project initiation and scoping decisions. Focus on core business services that can drive rationalization of legacy applications Service Portfolio Plan Architecture Identify business critical capabilities; use to identify domain boundaries and prioritize supporting core business and process services. Capability Models Work with business (analysts) to identify candidate processes for standardization. Use to drive out short term service strategy. Process Models Business Design Establish SOA Adoption as a Community of Interest – involving expertise from across the organization, not just architects SOA Adoption Get agreement on budget approach to allow shared service contracts between projects/programs Funding Identify key performance measures that reflect short term vision. E.g Applications retired, Service reuse. Performance Measurement SOA Management Candidate Strategies for Tough Times Selected Capability Areas Stream

Candidate SOA Adoption Strategies for Today’s Economic Climate - 2 Candidate Strategies for Tough Times Selected Capability Areas Stream Define essential deliverables and governance criteria for key service deliverables – architecture and specification, and integrate into existing project gates. Service Governance Governance Establish framework and process with outsourcing/offshore supplier based around service architecture, specification and test. Acquisition Framework Acquisition Develop process and deliverables to derive test harness from service specifications. Test and certify services which have reuse expectation > 1 Service Certification Use CBDI Specification Template. Adjust as result of experience Train small specialist team to carry out (or assist) specification to ensure high quality Service Specification Practice Use CBDI Reference Framework to define concepts, vocabulary, taxonomy and layers; adjust as result of experience Reference Architecture Framework & Process Use CBDI UML Profile in existing modeling tools. Interface into lightweight repository and registry using XMI. Modeling Tools Set up lightweight repository and registry using Sharepoint or similar. Registry/Repository Life Cycle Infrastructure Use existing installed infrastructure; most products have service capabilities. Use Infrastructure as a Service (IAAS) capabilities Messaging, Mediation, Orchestration and Management Operational Infrastructure

Candidate SOA Adoption Strategies for Today’s Economic Climate - 3 Candidate Strategies for Tough Times Selected Capability Areas Stream Map CBDI Service Life Cycle to current project management practice. Manage limited states to reduce complexity. Project Management Practices Get service architect involvement in project initiation process with responsibility to determine service contract responsibilities. Project Initiation Establish inter project coordination mechanisms (team) to plan and manage shared service life cycle. Delivery Coordination Projects & Programs Use CBDI eLearning modules, not just for architects, but everyone involved in projects Encourage individuals to obtain CBDI certification Skills development Establish virtual CoE – beg, borrow or steal a small proportion of key individuals’ time to contribute to both development of generic framework and support to project teams. Establish Community of Interest to share experience. Set up Wiki to support Organization Structure Organization

CBDI Adoption Planning Services SOA Status Assessment Knowing your current status is essential to effective delivery. CBDI provides a structured assessment service using the SAE methodology which can be a short project specific review, or a full division or enterprise focused evaluation. SOA Adoption Planning CBDI provides a range of consulting services that facilitate the creation and ongoing management of the Adoption Roadmap and Plan. SOA adoption planning doesn’t have to be a major effort for the entire enterprise; CBDI engagements have included stream specific support for technology infrastructure and SOA framework, as well as planning for individual projects, programs and divisions. Center of Excellence Set-up CBDI is well placed to accelerate this process, providing guidance and mentoring to the CoE and the projects it is supporting. More information on CBDI Consulting Services http:// cbdi.wikispaces.com/Consulting+Services

SOA Status Assessment

Knowing your current status is essential to effective delivery. CBDI provides a structured assessment service using the SAE methodology which can be a short project specific review, or a full division or enterprise focused evaluation.

SOA Adoption Planning

CBDI provides a range of consulting services that facilitate the creation and ongoing management of the Adoption Roadmap and Plan. SOA adoption planning doesn’t have to be a major effort for the entire enterprise; CBDI engagements have included stream specific support for technology infrastructure and SOA framework, as well as planning for individual projects, programs and divisions.

Center of Excellence Set-up

CBDI is well placed to accelerate this process, providing guidance and mentoring to the CoE and the projects it is supporting.

Independent Guidance for Service Architecture and Engineering www.cbdiforum.com Portal: www.cbdiforum.com Resources: http://cbdi.wikispaces.com/ Forum: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1464387