*Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from the book, Understanding Enterprise SOA. Order the book from the publisher, Manning Publications, and get the ebook for free. http://www.manning.com/affiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=161_18

Jay looks glum. “It’s all extremely cool,” he says, “but I don’t know how I’m going to sell this to my management.”

“You lack a clear-cut business driver for SOA,” I respond, and Jay nods as if he understands. “You’re in good company,” I add. “A study conducted by InfoWorld in early 2005 showed that 48 percent of its readers found ‘lack of business justification’ to be their primary inhibitor of SOA adoption at their company.”

“Well, show me the business justification,” he says, “and maybe we can actually look into to doing some of this stuff.”

“There are many routes to payoff in SOA,” I explain, “but several of the most respected consultants in the field—the global players—tend to see return on investment for SOA through its ability to help you improve business processes.” Jay is giving me the “I don’t want you to know I don’t know what you’re talking about nod” again. I go on.

“Much of what we call business is actually a collection of processes, such as purchasing, manufacturing, selling, billing, and so on. As companies grow larger, more complex, and more global, the efficient management of business processes can have an impact on profitability. Beyond the day-to-day management, business process management [BPM] can also help provide top management with an overview of business health and a read on strategic momentum. Effective BPM, and the ability to modify business processes dynamically, is a sought-after goal in that it provides business agility. In this context, agility means the ability to change and adapt to market conditions faster than the competition.”

Wal-Mart is a good example of a company that works hard at business process optimization, especially in its merchandising area. Wal-Mart studies the rate of sales for different products at different stores and determines an optimum mix of merchandise to be stocked at each store based on an analysis of sales patterns. For instance, Wal-Mart may sell less lawn furniture in a region that has a lot of rainfall. An analysis of lawn furniture sales at that region’s stores will tell management exactly how much lawn furniture to stock so as to avoid excessive inventory and wasted shelf space. The result is greater profitability and more satisfied customers.

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