In its day the colossal Pharos lighthouse of Alexandria was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. When it fell in the fourteen century, the building blocks were reused by the Sultan of Egypt to build the Citadel at Qaitbey that still stands today. Waste not, want not.

Our modern concept of Service Oriented Architectures (SOAs) updates the ancient approach to recycling. The SOA technology framework enables the rapid implementation of business applications using reusable services or functions. It includes a methodology for finding and consuming these pre-fabricated services.

Yet if you want your SOA projects to display the same kind of longevity as the lighthouse at Alexandria, you can't simply start stacking together the blocks willy-nilly. Building a successful SOA can require just as much careful planning and process as any architectural project. Process frameworks such as ITIL can serve as a valuable blueprint to guide construction.