Overview

Service-oriented architecture is clearly the gateway to step improvements in IT solution development, but it requires more than just a new approach to how IT works with business users. It calls for a radically different approach to IT governance.

Accenture observes that while most leading companies’ IT organizations are well on the way to adopting service-oriented architecture (SOA) capabilities, many find their progress slowed by big questions about who now owns the business services – and who controls them. While there are plenty of scenarios in which applications ownership and control is muddy, the questions are much trickier when they touch on who is in charge of and who pays for IT development in an SOA environment. And those questions are downright difficult when they get into who foots the bill for ongoing changes and maintenance.