Case Study: SOA Implementation Challenges for Medium Sized Corporations

In the commercial world, SOA implementation practitioners are finding a gulf between tools, whether vendor-based or open source, and the practical first needs of customers. Future-facing tool developers are addressing problems of orchestration to achieve the SOA promise. Most corporations, however, have not yet established either the services to be abstracted, or the governance requirements around exposing those services, such as the right level of service granularity. This case study is based on recent experience in the utility and retail sectors. The drivers for each are compelling: a business-driven need for IT flexibility. Examples are provided to show that customers in both sectors need to develop their architecture and governance before attempting to choose the right tools. Confusion also exists between tools and off-the-shelf solutions in the SOA environment. The challenge of agile approach for SOA development is also examined.