Service Oriented Architecture Field Guide for Executives

12.2. THE PLAN

The process of evaluating and then potentially adopting SOA involves several steps to thoroughly examine, understand, and ultimately initiate service orientation within the enterprise. These six steps are progressive, building on one another to further refine the potential for SOA and how it could benefit the enterprise in question:

Step 1: Identify the current business drivers.

Step 2: Select and initiate a pilot project to prove out SOA's potential.

Step 3: Conduct a strategic analysis regarding SOA's applicability within the business unit or the entire enterprise.

Step 4: Crystallize your SOA objectives and requirements.

Step 5: Define a detailed and incremental adoption plan.

Step 6: Communicate, educate, and collaborate across the organization.

These six steps are roughly divided into two broad categories: SOA evaluation and SOA adoption. The first three steps comprise the evaluation section. The aim is to identify SOA's applicability, if any, to the enterprise. The second set of steps focuses on the process of adopting SOA, guided by the adoption plan and roadmaps. From there, it is simply a matter of implementing the plan and fighting through the normal resistance that people put up against significant change. You know ... the fun stuff.