Service-oriented architecture (SOA) holds the promise to change the debate, said John Radcliffe, research vice president with Gartner Inc.'s Stamford, Conn.-based firm. Companies have long faced an either/or decision between buying packaged software with best practices and out-of-the-box functionality built into it or developing their own application with the flexibility to build according to need and differentiate processes from competitors.

"The promise of SOA is this nirvana where you potentially get the best of both worlds," Radcliffe told attendees at a workshop during the summit. "Can you? It's obviously not that easy. The way vendors are evolving their technologies [will] give you a lot more possibilities [for] getting functionality and building it in."