I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Randy Heffner, VP and analyst with Forrester Research. Randy, a leading expert on SOA issues, will be keynoting ebizQ's upcoming SOA in Action conference.
Listen to or download the 11:54 podcast below:
Check out the full transcript of the podcast interview.
Randy talked about a report Forrester issued last spring in the wake of Anne Thomas Manes' "SOA is Dead" proclamation, titled "SOA is Far From Dead, But It Should Be Buried."
"The data just shows that SOA is very much alive and well and very much adding value, not perfectly in the sense that there are still folks that struggle, because SOA is not an easy thing," he explains. "But I think a lot of the struggling with SOA comes from -- what I'll spend a lot of time at the SOA in Action Conference talking about -- is some of the misguided ways that people view SOA."
What are some of these misguided ways that people view SOA? "When they view it as a technology as sort of the next thing in line after objects, and components, and all about reuse and just about connecting between applications on the wire," he says. "These are all very small ways to view SOA. What's much more important is to view it from a design perspective, but just quickly some of the numbers."
Forrester's study uncovered deep and wide support for SOA, Randy says.
"By the end of this year, 75% of the global 2000, that's folks with 20,000 or more employees, say that they'll be using SOA," he explains. "When we asked, 'Are you satisfied?' roughly 25% says that SOA has provided most or all of the benefits that they expected. There's another 30 to 40% that said it's provided less than we expected, but still enough benefit that we're expanding our use of SOA. There's a group of folks that struggle, but most importantly, there's only about one percent of SOA users who say, it's provided little or no benefit and we're cutting back."
The fact that only one percent of SOA users intend to pull back from their efforts is significant, and a strong statement that once SOA is underway, it stays in place as a resource. Among the 20% that are struggling with SOA, many say it's too early too tell where their their efforts will take them.
What do the 25% moving full force into SOA have in common? "They're treating SOA as a business-design concept," Randy says. "That sets a whole different perspective on how you view the kinds of services that you're building, the methods that you put around it."
Randy Heffner will be keynoting SOA in Action, an informative two-day event (October 28-29), featuring leading experts and practitioners (not to mention yours truly!) discuss strategies and best practices for promoting and deploying SOA throughout the enterprise. Join us for an agenda packed full of sessions and panel discussions on the latest thinking in SOA.
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