In today’s business and technology environments - where expectations of IT are higher, but where change, risk, and complexity are increasing and the legacies of past investments are having an ever greater impact - it’s imperative that IT organisations find ways to demonstrate their ability to add value. We’re often told that Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) will sort things out by making systems more flexible and agile. However although SOA is a key enabler for a more “business-tuned” IT organisation, it has two limitations. Firstly, SOA is a software design approach and as such can only provide you the promise of flexibility. Secondly, SOA is about the development and integration of systems, and as such focuses primarily on the “projects” side of IT work. But there’s more to IT work than “doing projects” - we need an answer that can provide a foundation for more effective working across the board.

The single key element that’s missing from many IT organisations is an effective model for engaging consistently with business teams throughout the whole lifecycle of IT investments - from when they’re first considered, to when systems are being managed, changed and upgraded in operation. Although SOA doesn’t deliver the answers here, a broader ”service based” approach to IT delivery does.