As I mentioned a few times here, the PR folks have figured out that when presented with a survey, versus a press release, the analysts and press seem more likely to write about it. I have to admit I've been hooked in a few times considering the number of vendor sponsored SOA surveys that have come into my inbox, and the need for "blog fertilizer." These surveys typically point out how "74 percent of the of IT le As I mentioned a few times here, the PR folks have figured out that when presented with a survey, versus a press release, the analysts and press seem more likely to write about it. I have to admit I’ve been hooked in a few times considering the number of vendor sponsored SOA surveys that have come into my inbox, and the need for “blog fertilizer.” These surveys typically point out how “74 percent of the of IT leaders surveyed think SOA governance is important,” or was the “ESBs,” or was that “Web services management.” I can’t remember. You get the idea. The core problem I have with these is that they are not typically sponsored by objective third parties. Indeed, they are sponsored by vendors who happen to look pretty good when considering the survey results, for some reason. In addition, they typically provide “fluffy” information, such as “think it’s important” or “have been successful.” There is no mention of the problems solved, ROI, or most importantly how it’s done. Why not? The issues out there are really hype driven right now. Those in the IT world love to “manage by magazine,” and when surveyed love to tell those asking the question about how they are leveraging the latest-greatest something (insert buzzword or SOA product category here). Thus, the results always look so positive and glowing, and maybe they are, but perhaps the wrong questions are being asked. Here’s my survey, short, simple, and deep. What is, or what was the return on investment estimate for your SOA? Did you live up to it? Who is your executive sponsor? How much is your funding? How long did it take you to complete the necessary planning around your SOA? What are the key artifacts created in support of the SOA? What detailed method or processing are you following to insure success? Did you select your technology before you knew what you were doing, or after? Does your SOA support reuse to the extent you would consider it a success? Does your SOA support agility to the extent you would consider it a success? Did you just “spin” when responding to any of the previous questions so your project looks better than it actually is? Now, that’s a survey I would talk about here. Software Development