Service-Oriented Architecture Governance for the Services Driven Enterprise

7.6. GOVERNANCE ORGANIZATION PATTERNS AND BEST PRACTICES

There are a number of patterns and best practices to consider as you structure your SOA governance organizational design. The following sections answer common questions and focus on key decisions you will face as you begin considering the optimal governance structure for your organization.

7.6.1. When Do You Need a Governance Board?

Governance focuses on critical aspects of your business that must receive more oversight than typical management processes. SOA governance is no different. A key SOA governance organizational design question is, when do you need a governance board versus any other policy enforcement mechanism? A governance board is appropriate when the governance concern or gap is both critical to SOA success and it impacts multiple stakeholders from multiple business domains or organizations.

Key SOA governance concerns are detailed in Chapter 3. Whether you need a governance board depends on the current criticality of the governance concern or requirements and whether it affects multiple stakeholders across more than one business domain. If the answer is yes, then you may justify establishing a governance board. The next question is: What kind of board do you need? We answer that question below.

Best Practices

• Remember: Less is more with governance. Fewer high-impact governance boards are more effective than diluted governance spread across many boards.

• The boards you are considering are candidate boards at ...