Gary So

The phrase "SOA governance" is more likely to generate a sense of apprehension among IT professionals than any warm feelings. After all, most companies are still in the early stages of SOA adoption and so the practice of governance - and likely the concept itself - will be new territory. Yet, if companies are to realize any meaningful and lasting impact from SOA, then governance is a fact of life with which organizations are going to have to become comfortable. Governance - more than any other factor over the long term - will make the difference between SOA success and failure, and proficiency in governing the SOA environment will distinguish IT leaders from laggards. SOA Governance Defined While the term may be novel, the act of governance and the underlying rationale will be very familiar to IT. In most organizations, virtually every IT resource and process will ... (more)

The Technologies Behind SOA Governance

In last month's article, we discussed the motivation for SOA governance and the areas where governance should be applied. We also pointed out that, while SOA governance is not a shrink-wrapped product that you can simply implement off-the-shelf without also addressing important organizational and procedural issues, putting the right software mechanisms into place enhances the ability to automate the enforcement of policies and controls.  This article outlines the key moving parts of an SOA governance system that performs such policy-related functions. At a basic level, an SOA gov... (more)