Getting a Desired Business Return on Your Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) Investment Today, business processes and information systems are so tightly intertwined that they must be designed together, as parts of a total architecture, to realize enterprise goals. In Succeeding with SOA, Paul Brown shows how service-oriented architectures (SOAs) provide the best structure for such integration: clean, well-defined interfaces between collaborating entities. But even SOAs need to be correctly understood and implemented to avoid common failures. Drawing on decades of experience, Dr. Brown explains what business managers and IT architects absolutely need to know--including critical success factors--to undertake this essential work. Coverage includes Setting clear and reasonable expectations for SOA's benefits Understanding why conventional project management techniques don't scale to today's enterprise-wide projects Defining a living roadmap for developing services based on business priorities Establishing coherent leadership that brings together business executives, IT leaders, and the SOA architecture group Using Total Architecture Synthesis (TAS) to rapidly develop business processes and information systems together Understanding the central role of architecture--and making sure the right architectural decisions get made Whether you're a business or technical leader, this book will help you plan, organize, and execute SOA initiatives that meet or exceed their goals--now, and for years to come.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures xv List of Tables xvii Foreword xix Preface xxi PART I. Building Your SOA 1 Chapter 1: The SOA Challenge 3 The Concept of Total Architecture 4 Growing Pressures 6 Framing the Challenges 9 Staying on Track 13 How to Use This Book 16 Chapter 2: Business Process Pitfalls 19 Process Breakdowns Go Undetected 20 Service-Level Agreements Are Not Met 21 Process Changes Do Not Produce Expected Benefits 25 Summary 27 Key Business Process Questions 28 Suggested Reading 28 Chapter 3: Business Systems Pitfalls 29 Where's the Beef? Projects That Don't Deliver Tangible Benefits 30 Systems Won't Perform in Production 32 Summary 34 Key Systems Design Questions 35 Chapter 4: SOA: More Than Services 37 What Is a Service? 37 Creating Effective Services 41 Where Do Services Make Sense? 55 The Economic Realities of Services 58 Summary 59 Key SOA Questions 60 Suggested Reading 61 Chapter 5: Keys to SOA Success 63 What Makes a Project Good? 63 The System Is the Process! 68 System Design and Process Design Are Inseparable 69 Toward a Refined Development Methodology 70 Summary 73 Key Development Process Questions 73 Suggested Reading 74 Chapter 6: Organizing for SOA Success 75The Organizational Simplicity of Application Design 76 The Organizational Complexity of Distributed System Design 78 Organizing Multisilo Projects 80 Project Oversight 88 Organizational Variations for Project Oversight 95 Summary 97 Key Organizational Questions 98 Suggested Reading 98 Chapter 7: SOA Project Leadership 99 The Project Manager 99 The Business Process Architect 101 The Systems Architect 102 Project Leadership Team Responsibilities 103 Organizational Variations for Project Leadership 108 Summary 109 Key Project Leadership Questions 110 Chapter 8: SOA Enterprise Leadership 111 The Elements of Enterprise Architecture 111 Enterprise Architecture Definition 115 Enterprise Architecture Governance 119 Enterprise Architecture Standards and Best Practices 122 Enterprise Architecture Operation 123 Total Architecture Management 124 Summary 128 Key Organizational Questions 129 Chapter 9: Agile SOA Development 131 The Challenge 132 The Solution: Total Architecture Synthesis 134 Manage Risk: Architect as You Go 141 Summary 142 Key Project Lifecycle Questions 142 Suggested Reading 143 PART II. Managing Risk 145 Chapter 10: Responsibility and Risk in Business Processes 147 Systems Can't Take Responsibility 147 The Conversation for Action 149 Delegation and Trust 153 Detecting Breakdowns in Task Performance 154 Dialog Shortcuts Increase Risk 160 Process Design and Responsibility Assignments 170 The Business Executive Sponsor Bears All Risks 178 Summary 179 Key Process Design Questions 181 Suggested Reading 181 Chapter 11: Managing Project Risk 183 The Project as a Dialog 184 The Project Charter 186 Considerations in Structuring Projects 194 Summary 197 Key Project Risk Management Questions 198 Suggested Reading 198 Chapter 12: Investing Wisely in Risk Reduction 199 The Risk of Failure 200 The Risk of Error 208 The Risk of Delay 210 Summary 211 Key Business Process Risk Reduction Questions 212 Chapter 13: Managing SOA Risks 215 Service-Related Risks 215 SOA Processes and Governance 217 Governance for Project Portfolio Planning 218 Governance for Service Design 219 Governance for Service Utilization 224 Governance for Service Operation 225 Summary 226 Key SOA Risk Reduction Questions 227 Afterword 229 Index 237