The report “Planning and Implementing SOA - Ensuring the successful deployment of a services-based approach,” identifies that despite all the hype surrounding SOA, it is not yet the predominant operating model for more than a few organisations, but a growing number are beginning to trial the approach, especially larger organisations and enterprises in the Technology and Financial Services sectors.

“The adoption of SOA has significant potential to improve the value organisations derive from their IT investments, in terms of increased flexibility, improved use of assets, alignment with business objectives, and reduced integration costs”, says Mike Thompson, Business Process Management (BPM) Practice Director and co-author of the study. “However, there is still a considerable degree of hype and misunderstanding around the topic, with consequent confusion as to the exact definition of a SOA, and more importantly, how to begin to realise these benefits.”