Meanwhile, many others comprehend that SOA bestows the opportunity for IT to strategically position itself as a business partner, but, lacking a sound architecture planning and management process, can’t act on their knowledge. They are overwhelmed at the perceived necessity of rewiring their entire architecture; indeed some fail to see the role architecture plays in this at all.

Enterprise Architecture Management from a SOA Perspective: What’s Changed and What Hasn’t?

In companies embracing SOA, Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM) is enjoying a surge in significance. The two are becoming so closely entwined that it’s difficult to say which topic is a subcategory of the other. Best practice EAM already recognizes several of the issues involved in SOA and some strategic planning products support these concepts:

· A single, central repository containing all planning-relevant information on all architecture artifacts as a comprehensive information base for effective IT planning

· Thorough examination of requests for change to the architecture to eliminate redundant efforts and avoid negative impact to other system areas

· Strict adherence to standards and guidelines to ensure progress towards the IT architecture vision

· Transparent and measurable IT/business relationship issues to assess IT support for the business

· An architecture roadmap defining the incremental steps on the way to the desired target architecture

· A collaborative process for cooperative planning and implementation

While SOA does not require a new approach to enterprise architecture, SOA does confront the architecture team with new challenges in respect to services, however, and in embarking on the SOA path the EA group often finds the following: