How to sell SOA (Part I)

Many organizations out there don’t really have to sell SOA. They instead understand that the hype is the driver, and in essence leverage the thousands of articles and books on the topic to sell this architectural pattern.

However, in most cases SOA has to be sold within the enterprise. Indeed, if you’re doing SOA right you’ll find that the cost quickly goes well into the millions, thus you’ll need executive approval for that kind of acceleration in spending. However, the benefits are there as well, including the core benefit of agility that could save the company many times the cost of building an SOA. Or, at least that’s the idea.

So, how do you sell? Let’s look a few key concepts, including:

1. Shining a light on existing limitations
2. Creating the business case
3. Creating the execution plan
4. Delivering the goods

Shining a light on existing limitations refers to the process of admitting how bad things are. This is difficult to do for most architects, because in essence you’re exposing yourself to criticism because in many instances, you’re in charge of keeping things working correctly. Architecture within most Global 2000 companies, however, is in need of fixing. You can’t change them; they are too complex, and ill planned. If your architecture has issues, and they all do, now is time to list them.

This is analogous to admitting that you’re 20 pounds overweight before going on a diet, or admitting you have a substance abuse problem before taking the famous 12 steps. In essence you’re defining your issues and thus have a clear understanding before you attempt to fix them.

Next time, we’ll tackle the next item on our list.