In this article by Rich Seeley there is clearly some debate about the emergence of the illusive "Standard SOA stack." "While some vendors, most notably IBM, say they would like to see everyone agree on a single Web services stack -- the protocols used to define, locate, implement and make Web services interact -- it does not appear likely to happen." This kind of stuff drives me nuts. SOA, the A meaning architec In this article by Rich Seeley there is clearly some debate about the emergence of the illusive “Standard SOA stack.” “While some vendors, most notably IBM, say they would like to see everyone agree on a single Web services stack — the protocols used to define, locate, implement and make Web services interact — it does not appear likely to happen.” This kind of stuff drives me nuts. SOA, the A meaning architecture. Thus, it’s not a one instance of anything; it’s an architecture that meets your requirements. The technology solution is going to fit your requirements, and requirements differ from business to business, thus the “stack” will be different from business to business, and perhaps not even leveraged Web services (gasp!). Thus, the notion that we can create one approach and one set of enabling technologies is just silly, and those that promote the single stack approach should rethink the core concept of SOA, and how it’s something you do, not something you buy, nor will it ever be a standard stack. “Bradley F. Shimmin, principal analyst of application infrastructure at Current Analysis LLC. agreed that standardization on a single Web services stack is unlikely given competing stacks from different vendors and the heterogeneous environments of most customers. ‘I don’t think that will ever happen. I don’t see how it could happen. It’s like assuming that software will never get versioned.'” The issue here is that the product guys are pushing technology, their technology. Thus, they are promoting a single solution approach typically around some mega SOA suite they are selling. Not that their technology is bad, that’s not the issue. The issue is that each enterprise has their own needs, and the way you approach each problem domain varies greatly from domain to domain, thus no one-stop-shopping. I think the real problem here is that many are still seeking a single stack, and thus delaying the implementation of SOA. Worse, some are implementing SOA now, without doing the planning, and thus are using the wrong stack. Sorry this world can’t be that simple, but that’s they way architecture works. Software Development