Service-Oriented Architecture Governance for the Services Driven Enterprise

Chapter 3. Four Tiers of SOA Governance

This chapter presents a four-tier view of the Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) Governance Reference Model™ discussed in Chapter 2. The four-tier model is not a replacement of the SOA Governance Reference Model, but instead represents a more functional, process-driven view of an enterprise SOA governance. The four tiers are organized as (see also Exhibit 3.1):

1. Enterprise/Strategic Governance

2. SOA Operating Model Governance

3. SOA/Services Development Lifecycle Governance, and

4. SOA Governance Technology and Tools

The four tiers consist of three governance process tiers and a governance technology tier. The process tiers help place emphasis on the many processes that are related and involved in all forms of enterprise governance—corporate governance, Information Technology (IT) governance, and SOA governance. It is essential for you to understand the variety and relationships among various governance processes prior to acquiring SOA governance technology and tools. A thorough SOA governance assessment and gap analysis will identify governance requirements, governance gaps, and then lead to an action plan to close those critical gaps.

This four-tier view of enterprise SOA governance is also instructive because it helps break governance into an enterprise, and therefore strategic, view, as well as identifies the supporting processes that lead to the implementation of the strategic intent of the organization. The Enterprise/ Strategic view is based ...