The impacts of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) have been mixed to date, but contractors should prepare for significant long-term effects and more SOA-related RFPs, according to a recent report from the INPUT Executive Program (IEP). SOA may change agencies' acquisition models, while also requiring new contractor sales approaches and removal of some important differentiators formerly enjoyed by technology providers.

"Standardization is the backbone of SOA," explains Deniece Peterson, senior analyst, IEP at INPUT. "For providers who usually supply proprietary solutions, this will force them to find other ways to be 'best-of-breed.' If they don't, they'll just become 'very-easily-replaced."