Best of the blogs: So-called ‘candidate services’ hold the potential to become core services, but typically require a bit more analysis before they do. “Part of the process of building a successful SOA is figuring out what should be a service, and what should not. A common amateur mistake is to service enable everything,” David Linthicum explains in Looking for candidate services. “That typically proves unproductive, and could be an ‘SOA killer’ at the end of the day.” There are no hard and fast guidelines on what constitutes a well-defined service, but Linthicum has three suggestions that ought to help. From the Test Center: When it comes to optimizing document-centric processes, Bluespring’s BPM Suite 4.5 brings strong provisions for managing complex, human-centric processes as well as built-in controls to bring geographic insight and calendar data into the mix, writes James Borck. “Its extremely accessible task-management UI stands out against competitors. Bluespring also demonstrates a good platform on which to visually construct, deploy, and monitor processes; it is code-free and incredibly easy to use,” Borck adds. The downside? Poor administration tools, a limited library, and that fact that “its entire platform demands MS-branded servers, databases, and IE for its Web portal.” Read the full review. The news beat: Microsoft forms a new search center, dubbed the Internet Services Research Center, to keep up with Google. Verizon says it will acquire Rural Cellular, a mobile telephone service provider. And in a search for new revenue streams KPN agrees to buy Getronics, the Dutch IT services organization. Notes from the field: First, a question: Who’s afraid of the big, bad tube? Cringe refers to YouTube, of course. Snowmen, perverts and the occasional politician, specifically. Mitt Romney “seems to think YouTube is actually MySpace,” Cringe reports. Even still, the latest word is that he ‘might’ participate in a Republican debate akin to the one Democrats held last week. Technology Industry