Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a powerhouse when it comes to enabling strategic IT initiatives like Cloud, mobile and big data. It’s well regarded for increasing agility while reducing the cost and time it takes to change business applications. A SOA application architecture initiative can help build a healthy foundation for any modern business to compete and thrive on. Here are a few ways to get started.
Assess and Prioritize
In order for a SOA application initiative to succeed, organizations need to ensure they have sufficiently invested in developer skills and that business expectations are reasonable. Answering a few questions will help you decide how prepared your organization is for the broad, sustained change that a SOA initiative requires.
- Does your organization have a business case for a specific SOA project?
- Is your current infrastructure technology ready for SOA? If not, what will it take to get there?
- Do you have a SOA design ready? If not, what do you need to make that happen?
Once the organization has everything it needs, it can successfully run a small-scale project. That initial project will provide the foundation for you to develop a SOA Center of Excellence before tackling more intensive projects.
Use the Oracle Maturity Model
The Oracle Maturity Model will guide the process that helps you pinpoint proficiencies missing or struggling in your organization in order to encompass them in a strategic plan. Using Oracle’s approach, it typically only takes a few weeks to develop the plan. Read the white paper to learn more about the Oracle Maturity Model.
Develop a SOA Center of Excellence
A SOA Center of Excellence will help you develop, implement and sustain your strategy for long-term success. This center is an essential team dedicated to competency that establishes and oversees the SOA best practices and governance processes that guide your project team. Without it, the odds of miscommunication and inconsistencies skyrocket.
Curious to learn more about SOA? Check out Oracle’s Approach to SOA and read our recent newsletter article, Application Architecture Initiatives—Why SOA?