One of the most valuable and often overlooked benefits of an Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) strategy is the impact it has on the general population. From helping reduce home energy bills, to saving money on car insurance, to safeguarding your retirement investments, SOA is quickly becoming a critical (albeit invisible) ally for today's consumers.

Below are five examples illustrating how SOA is playing a role in our everyday lives:

1. SOA can reduce your energy bill.
Consider the Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL)'s Olympic Peninsula Demand Response Demonstration study that's being funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. PNNL is working with 300 volunteers in Washington’s Olympic Peninsula and Gresham, Oregon to monitor home electricity usage and billing. The homeowners set how much they want to spend per month on energy and are alerted when usage should be modified to defray strain on the National Grid and stay within the established monthly charges. Invisible to the consumer, the SOA connects PNNL with the participants so that they can exchange information about real-time pricing information on their energy usage and costs as well as the consumer's impact on the National Grid.