You may need to hit the button and not yet know it. As we’ve been discussing over the past few weeks, SOA seems to be working in some instances, and not in others. The patterns of success are very clear, including having an accepting culture, smart people, good leadership, and enough resources to do the job. The patterns of failure are also clear, including lack of understanding, lack of executive sponsorship, a culture that rejects change, and looking at SOA as a technical not an architectural problem. I’m also finding that those who are failing with SOA continue to drive the projects that are simply not working, hoping that some miracle occurs that will put things on track. Dream on. Thus, you need to know when to hit the SOA reset button and just consider what you’ve done thus far as a learning experience, and try again with perhaps a more thoughtful process. Or, perhaps the organization itself needs to morph before SOA can be successful within a particular enterprise. In any event, it does not make sense that you continue when you’re just digging a much deeper hole. Truth-be-told, it’s difficult to admit that things are not going well and that you need to “reset the project.” Indeed, most would find that situation a career-ending experience, but that should not be the case. In most instances when SOA is off track it’s due to organizational and process issues, not the approach or the technology (which are just misapplied). The trick is to first admit that you’re off in an unproductive direction, then: Stop work. Review the work done: what worked, what did not. Focus on the business objectives. Focus on the ROI. Become less involved with the technology, more with the architecture. Back up and create a more viable plan that considers the enterprise holistically. Create buy-in. Create and agree upon metrics around execution. Start work. Good luck. Software Development