There has been a great deal of discussion on the need to better align business with IT in order to successfully implement service-oriented architectures (SOAs).

While many developers agree an SOA should ultimately cater to the needs of the business, there are differing opinions on how exactly this should occur.

Should a top-down, business-centric approach be employed or a bottom-up approach, in which the Business Unit (BU) is more reactive and sensitive to the realities of IT?