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Lessons Learned on the SOA Journey
Practical advice and perspectives from the SOA trenches

As organizations undertake the creation of SOAs and deploy SOA-based business applications, they quickly learn that the SOA approach is not only a journey; it’s a multi-year expedition.

The good news: SOA has matured enough that a number of common business scenarios and best practices have emerged that can help organizations navigate their journey through the SOA labyrinth.

The bad news: A host of pitfalls and potholes await the unaware and unprepared SOA traveler:

• Lack of effective business involvement

• Failure to address the ‘people’ problems

• Total dependence on one vendor

• 'Running' before learning to ‘walk’

• Failure to address governance and stewardship

• Ineffective sponsorship

• Inadequate assessment of technology, methodology and sociology strengths and weaknesses

How This Program Will Help

In this unique, intensive and highly practical clinic, the I/S RESOURCE GROUP SOA faculty will help participants:

• To position and assess their SOA initiatives, in terms of…

  • SOA Evolutionary Stages

  • SOA Initiative Motivation Scenarios

  • SOA Cycle Phases

• Understand approaches for SOA initiatives and projects…

  • Two-Phase Planning Approach: Assess first, then Plan

  • Multi-Dimension Approach: Technology, Methodology, Sociology

  • Multi-Discipline Approach: Education, Training, Coaching, Consulting

  • Multi-Community Solution Approach

• Recognize 13 Potholes on the SOA Journey…And how to avoid them

• Perform two self-assessments…

  • Where are you on your SOA journey and what forces affect your SOA success?

  • Where do you go from here and what actions can you take in the next 30 days to move forward?

Learning Methodology

An interactive seminar, this program elicits and encourages participant involvement.  It extensively utilizes structured discussion, question and answer, and facilitated assessment to introduce and explore topics and issues.  The workshop faculty “tailor on the fly” to fit the scope and technical intensity of the workshop content to the needs of the participants. Each of the facilitated self-assessments are designed to uncover personalized “nuggets” that will provide immediate participant benefit.

Program Outline

Program Duration: One day

• What is SOA?

  • Working definition of SOA

  • What is required for successful SOA implementations

• What are the motivators for SOA?

  • Strategic overview of ‘why SOA?’

  • Three key motivators for SOA

• What are the evolutionary stages of SOA?

  • The three stages of SOA evolution in an enterprise

  • Motivations to move from one stage to another

  • Characteristics of each stage

• Who initiates SOA and what are the timing issues?

  • Definition of the initiators for SOA

  • Identification of the stages of current SOA development

• How is SOA built?

  • Strategic approaches to SOA implementation

  • The five phases of a SOA initiative

  • The focus, consumer, decision maker and timing for each phase

• SOA assessment working session

  • What evolutionary stage are you in?

  • What are the forces affecting your SOA initiatives?

  • What can you do to influence and mitigate those forces?

• What are the ‘approaches’ and ‘solutions’ to SOA?

  • The multi-dimension approach to SOA

  • The multi-discipline solutions required for SOA

• What are the 13 'potholes' on the SOA journey?

  • Definition of each

  • Identification of potential actions to take to address each

• What are the next steps?

  • Summary of the lessons learned

  • Facilitated working session to define next steps