Bob Rhubart's had some interesting follow-up to my last post. "I agree with David's assessment that the strategy of building services and then layering in SOA governance technology is unwise. The first problem with that strategy is that SOA governance should apply to the entire service life cycle, not just the determination of how existing services should be used, but also the determination of what services shou Bob Rhubart’s had some interesting follow-up to my last post. “I agree with David’s assessment that the strategy of building services and then layering in SOA governance technology is unwise. The first problem with that strategy is that SOA governance should apply to the entire service life cycle, not just the determination of how existing services should be used, but also the determination of what services should be built in the first place.” “SOA governance is about organization, about clearly defined roles, processes, and policies. It’s about knowing what you have and how it’s being used. It’s about shaping behavior to insure compliance with architectural guidelines — and ultimately with business objectives — at every stage in the service life cycle. Technology’s role in larger SOA governance picture is to provide the tools necessary to address the responsibilities and information needs of the various roles, automate the various governance processes, and apply and enforce the appropriate policies. Technology isn’t SOA governance — technology is a tool of SOA governance. Let’s not forget that other mantra: SOA governance is something you do, not something you buy.” I wish I could say I converted Bob, but he was obviously in the “you do” camp versus “you buy” camp. Not sure I was really attempting to say he was thinking differently, just commenting on the results of his survey. Also, some confusion. “I agree completely with David’s assertion that no single technology will deliver SOA governance, but I’m a bit confused by his comment that SOA governance should be a ‘small part of a more holistic solution.’ When properly organized and implemented, SOA governance is the holistic solution, no? It’s true that SOA governance should be a part of the larger SOA effort, but it’s a critically important part. Effective, holistic SOA governance is exactly what is necessary to place the focus on architecture, and keep it there.” Yes, and no. SOA governance is indeed a part of SOA, just as governance is a part of enterprise architecture. In my way of thinking I’m really morphing all of those things together, in essence defining SOA as architecture, and architecture as holistic to the enterprise. SOA governance is a set of behaviors and disciplines with supporting technology that is powerful in the context of architecture. Once again I think that everyone is in agreement with that. However, makes for good blogging. 🙂 Software Development