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SOA Zen Moment of the Day

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An InfoWorld newsletter called "The SOA Report" tells us that SOA is overly hyped.   How ironic.

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But wait, it gets even more surreal.   An analyst is quoted in the article saying " ...people are not getting a large amount of return on investment on SOA. Only a minority of companies are getting a return on investment on SOA. "

Do all companies measure ROI the same way using the same timeline?   Of course not. 

ROI is not an exact science and will vary from one organization to another (much like SOA itself).  There are many ROI models available, some more complex than others.   The best ROI models I have seen are relatively straightforward.  Overly complicated ROI models may require spending more time maintaining the model instead of working on the project to be measured. 

When it comes to ROI use realistic data points and time frames to determine the value an implementation may have generated.  SOA ROI requires patience - benefits may take a year or more to be properly recognized.

Geek and Poke - a great IT-oriented web toon

Comments

  • Anonymous
    August 22, 2007
    This is a classic example why ROI is an awfull metric: you can always argue that given enough time you will get the benefits. Personally I think the problem lies on why, how and when the enterprise adopt SOA. Going all SOA for instance is a recipe of disaster. On the other hand, implementing it in a project to see how it goes for no other reason, will probably give no value to the enterprise. I would say enterprises must base SOA adoption in real business needs, where there will be clear value added to the enterprise in the short term. If its value isn't clear in the short term, then some consulting services on the subject must be used (or a better one). That said, the problem is above SOA. The following article enterprise architecture article, gives some great advices on how to get business value: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/aa479371.aspx

  • Anonymous
    August 22, 2007
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    August 23, 2007
    I could get used to this rolling out of bed into my office thing BizTalk Server The highly anticipated

  • Anonymous
    August 23, 2007
    Another SOA Zen Moment: Making something easy to change makes the overall system a little more complex, and making everything easy to change makes the entire system very complex. Complexity is what makes a system hard to change.