SOA-based Applications and Infrastructure--The Next Frontier?
Olin Thompson and P.J. Jakovljevic - May 5, 2005

SOA, The Next Frontier

The current, rapid pace of global business places a unique set of challenges on all enterprises looking to improve and automate their operations. At the same time companies must also be poised to adapt quickly to change. Growing competition, deregulation, globalization, compliance requirements, merger and acquisition activities, and outsourcing, coupled with supply chain structures and stringent mandating requirements from dominant customers, such as Wal-Mart are some of the main challenges facing companies. These are critical changes, but are often slow to implement because of the complexity of making their information technology (IT) systems support the new business model. In many cases, the workhorse IT systems need to be completely bypassed and provide no support at a time when that support is most critical. Consequently enterprise software buyers have increasingly realized that product architecture plays a key role in how quickly vendors can implement, maintain, expand and customize, and integrate their products...