Chapter 3
Making Sure SOA Happens
In This Chapter
Buying in to SOA
Improving service with SOA
Selling SOA
Assuring SOA success
We’re pretty sure that if you’re reading this book, you’re thinking deep thoughts about SOA. We think that’s a good thing. You may also be trying to figure out how to get your organization from where it is now to where you want it to be, SOA-speaking. It’s one thing to get everyone to agree that SOA’s cool; it’s another thing getting actual people to spend actual time and money to make things happen. So, don’t be surprised if some of the people you need to convince ask what’s in it for them. It’s up to you to explain it to them. Well-paid corporate consultants call this convincing “getting buy-in.” Political candidates look for “support.” No matter what you call it, SOA isn’t a one-person or even a one-department deal. SOA needs buy-in from constituents across your organization, and we feel it’s critical to get buy-in from above — SOA must be driven from the top. SOA transforms business and IT culture, processes, language, and more. SOA means change, and change is rarely eagerly embraced. To make SOA happen, you need someone with authority insisting that SOA happen.
At the end of the day, the issues of leveraging great ideas and great technology are all about how you educate an organization and how you change the way people think. If organizations try to implement SOA the way they’ve always implemented new technologies, we think they’ll fail. SOA is a ...
