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)
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)