The ability to couple, uncouple, recombine and restructure the I.T. infrastructure of an organization quickly and easily is the underlying premise of a service oriented architecture (SOA).

SOA currently is considered more an I.T. design concept than a specific definition or product. Even so, the rush to put SOA on the I.T. budget may well place it in the top position for new technology expenditures in 2005.

The idea of SOA is simple; its implementation is anything but. At the heart of SOA is the concept of using or combining services to perform a specific business operation. What meets the criteria of "service" will be unique to each organization, defined by its approach to business the organization takes and the degree of detail it chooses to include in the SOA.