For many enterprises this is scary stuff, much like the Internet was scary back in the early 90s. However, as we move to “Web 2.0” we are indeed going to find the value of leveraging application services that we had nothing to do with creating, or incurring the cost or the risk for that matter. Clearly, the days of purchasing or developing software as the default solution are behind us, and we’re moving to a model where we can mix and match services on-demand, for any business purpose. This notion will provide us with the business agility and value we’re finally looking for from IT.

However, the concept of Outside-in SOA needs specific enabling technology, layers of software that are able to manage the interaction with outside services, typically Web services, and the internal systems, including semantic, protocol, and security mediation. To date, most of the work has been concentrated on building a SOA using internal systems, not considering the use of service providers. I’m asserting that the patterns of use are very different, and thus require different approaches and technology.

Moving forward we need to put some science, discipline, and technology with the notion of leveraging and managing external services, with the goal being their transparent use within the enterprise. The technology patterns are very unique with hybrid solutions that are able to manage service-oriented integration, including components that need to exist both inside and outside of the enterprise to properly manage services interactions, and deal with proprietary systems that will never talk Web services, which is the majority of systems out there for the time being.

I think this is a huge area that needs addressing now, both as service providers become more popular, and enterprise can obtain real value by leveraging them. We are clearly at the forefront of this pattern, and future enterprises will accept the use of services existing outside of the enterprise much like we accept information commoditization through Web delivery today. Web 2.0 indeed, will you be prepared? I’m going to make sure I put the proper thought and technology behind this. Follow me.