SOA has arrived on the scene at a good time when most IT organizations are far enough in their maturation process to see themselves as providers of services to support the business. Without this, SOA wouldn’t have a chance in bringing the benefits to the business that it has the potential to do. Some shops follow SOA only in the context of consolidating routine technical administration tasks such as authentication, authorization, backup und recovery, security, messaging, integration, etc.

Meanwhile, many others comprehend that SOA bestows the opportunity for IT to strategically position itself as a business partner, but, lacking a sound architecture planning and management process, can’t act on their knowledge. They are overwhelmed at the perceived necessity of rewiring their entire architecture; indeed some fail to see the role architecture plays in this at all.