Integrating third-party supplier information into the supply chain is a well-established practice, and many global companies drive higher efficiency by requiring key suppliers to conform to their technical integration preferences. In most cases, batch-oriented EDI messaging has been used to link organizations. Though not very exciting, the technology has been good enough to do the job.

Customer integration is a different story. First, customers have the power in your relationship and expect you to conform to their preferred integration method. Second, with a plethora of integration protocols for e-Procurement applications, vendors appear intent on maintaining access through their own integration pathways. Third, real-time communication is paramount, because the business process is centered on end shoppers selecting items to create purchase requisitions. Thus, current pricing and product availability is vital to making a purchase decision. Integrating into this dynamic environment presents many technical challenges-and huge business opportunities. We've seen several companies exploit integration technology to drive big gains in top line revenue, improve operational efficiency, and differentiate themselves from competitors.

You may wonder, "What does this have to do with SOA?" The answer is "Everything." According to Gartner, the majority of Fortune 500 companies will implement some type of SOA-based solution in 2007. As enterprise service buses (ESBs) are established, key information is exposed to a limited set of processes. The primary focus is on facilitating intra-company communication, but the big opportunity lies outside the firewall. Consider the end consumers with an interest in your pricing and availability information. The number is probably in the thousands, yet most organizations expend energy on exposing data elements with fewer than a dozen subscribers. It's no surprise that many SOA initiatives have failed to deliver significant results.