7.4. STRATEGIC SOA ROI
In the medium-to-long-term time frame, there is a more strategic ROI made available via business agility. Strategic ROI is manifested through cost controls, risk mitigation, and new revenue generation as a result of agility.
Understanding Strategic ROI
Strategic ROI is the ultimate expression of what SOA is all about. It is about making a strategic investment in an agile enterprise infrastructure and at the same time aligning the business and technology sides of the organization to work toward common, shared objectives. Rather than viewing IT as a cost of doing business, it becomes a strategic partner that enables the organization to effectively and efficiently manage information and capture new business by making the enterprise nimble and more responsive to opportunities and risks. An agile architecture provides cost savings in development and maintenance and risk mitigation in the form of improved regulatory compliance (e.g., Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act [HIPAA], Sarbanes-Oxley, etc.). Agility also serves as a revenue driver, by enabling the rapid creation of new products and services to meet changing client and market demands.
Computing Strategic ROI
Similar to tactical ROI calculation, no real cost models exist for calculating strategic ROI. There are, however, some key elements to consider:
System development and maintenance costs are saved due to the ability to modify information systems with little or no coding required (simply ...
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