I caught this piece today, "Selling SOA to a CEO," by IBM's Sandy Carter, and found some things that I would like to emphasis pertaining to selling SOA at the corporate level. "Still, as many IT managers have learned, without executive endorsement, an SOA will be relegated to the confines of IT as opposed to being recognized as an organization-wide business strategy. While no two organizations are exactly alike I caught this piece today, “Selling SOA to a CEO,” by IBM’s Sandy Carter, and found some things that I would like to emphasis pertaining to selling SOA at the corporate level.“Still, as many IT managers have learned, without executive endorsement, an SOA will be relegated to the confines of IT as opposed to being recognized as an organization-wide business strategy. While no two organizations are exactly alike, there are consistent themes that arise — and pitfalls to avoid — when aiming for approval to build an SOA.”Let’s face it, CEOs have heard all of the buzzwords before, such as client/server, data mining, intranet, knowledge management, object-oriented, approving huge budgets for training, consultants, staffing, and new technology. But still, as told to me by a CEO friend of mine, “…can’t understand why it takes a year to alter a business process. Also, why everything funded in the last 10 years, was delivered late and over budget”…can you say “ERP?” Thus, CEOs can’t help but be a bit gun shy when we parade yet another “revolution in computing,” this time SOA, and have our hands out seeking funding, commitment, and acceptance of risk. If you’re even the least bit empathetic, you’ll understand why they are becoming more skeptical. So, now that it’s time again to do some things different, you’ll find that the selling is a bit harder than it was in the past, and Sandy has a few good suggestions. My favorite being: “1. Don’t call it SOA: explain the value and benefits in business terms that reflect the organization’s goals — such as cost reduction, productivity, competitive advantage, etc. — before diving into a technical conversation.”Good point, and really the fact that you’re selling the notion of fixing existing issues, becoming more efficient, and not just layering in new technology for technology’s sake. Sandy has something there, indeed I’ve found it much more effective to sell the ROI than the buzzword, especially to business leaders that are more concerned about earnings per share than governance, and more inclined to say yes to “improvement” than yes to “SOA.” It’s all in how you say it. Software Development