Bert Latamore of Computer World wrote this article, about the fact that SOA is happening later than expected. "Since about 2003, service-oriented architecture (SOA) has been touted as the network-based, next-generation computing environment, replacing the client/server architecture of the 1990s. Industry leaders like Bill Gates have made brave predictions about a future in which their applications will live acr Bert Latamore of Computer World wrote this article, about the fact that SOA is happening later than expected.“Since about 2003, service-oriented architecture (SOA) has been touted as the network-based, next-generation computing environment, replacing the client/server architecture of the 1990s. Industry leaders like Bill Gates have made brave predictions about a future in which their applications will live across the Internet, and developers will meet specific needs by combining functions from these networked applications on an almost ad hoc basis. So what has happened in the past three or four years? On the surface, it might seem very little.”First of all, I’m not sure SOA is an evolution from client/server. Having written both client/server books and SOA books, the notions are very different. However, I won’t hammer the author on that here. Truth-be-told the article is correct in that the adoption of SOA has not met the expectations of the hype. But when does it ever? I’ve hit on that issue to death here…the fact that SOA is a huge systemic change to enterprise architecture and, as such, won’t be something that happens overnight. I think it’s most likely a 5 to 10 year evolution of existing IT to more service-oriented approaches, and I think most enterprises are going to take baby steps. In fact, you may find that the buzzword of “SOA” falls out of favor with the press and hype-oriented people in our industry, just as it begins to pay for itself within the enterprise. That’s not a bad thing. Being in this business now for 24 years, that’s become SOP. The article goes on to discuss the fact that we really don’t have a single definition of SOA, as of now, and that limiting its success. “Even its proponents don’t agree on a single SOA vision yet,”Clearly, this is an issue. The hype, and the redefining of SOA for a purpose, approach, or technology, is limiting the adoption. I think many end users are waiting for one common vision for SOA before diving in. The SOA movement, in general, seems chaotic with many mixed messages. Not sure how to solve that one, perhaps if everyone just read my blog; the world would be a better place for SOA. 🙂 “Like it or not, SOA is approaching rapidly, driven by the basic business need to improve efficiency, respond faster and do more with less. And over the next decade, nearly every application and technology used today will need to evolve rapidly to keep up.” Good quote to close on. Have a good weekend everybody, new Podcast on Monday night. Software Development