In the rush to build out service-oriented architecture a few fundamentals have gotten lost in the shuffle, perhaps none more than data integration.

At the end of the day, your SOA is only as versatile and agile as your data allows it to be. A major, often unasked, question in SOA implementation is "How does my data need to behave in this new architecture?" We are now hearing regular reports that not enough users have been asking that question, according to a recent Forrester report only half of enterprise architects have a data architecture program in place.

Given that, it's no surprise to see Red Hat scoop up MetaMatrix while IBM, Oracle, BEA and Progress Software continue to push their data integration platforms. These companies do their homework. They know a lot of users are feeling a pinch when it comes to data flexibility and consumption.