News

SOA is not the goal

• By Shawna McAlearney
• June 21, 2006

It seems everyone wants to have an SOA these days, but having an SOA shouldn’t be the goal. Analysts recommend extensive planning before beginning an SOA deployment so that the end result is a successful SOA that improves the business in some way.

“SOA is about three things,” says Gartner VP Massimo Pezzini, “discipline, discipline and discipline.”

And nowhere is that more important than when formulating your approach to SOA. A common theme of this week’s Gartner Application Integration & Web Services Summit 2006, beginning with the basics is vital for successful SOA deployment.

Daryl Plummer, Gartner’s VP of emerging trends, says that process begins with a comprehensive application portfolio assessment.

• Determine specific objectives.
• Evaluate current issues and challenges.
• Refine analysis frameworks.
• Collect and aggregate information.
• Perform first analysis.
• Review with stakeholders and update results.
• Identify opportunities.
• Perform secondary analyses.
• Determine strategic recommendations and implications.
• Outline desired-state SOA portfolio.
• Determine main initiatives and overall road map.
• Perform high-level cost estimates.
• Provide input for strategy development and planning cycles.

“You have to understand what you’re trying to accomplish before you begin to build,” says Plummer. “Ask what you have already in your inventory, look for gaps, and that should drive the rest.”