Is SOA (service-oriented architecture) really just a fancy name for the next-generation of middleware? Or SOA is just means Web services technology? Until now, I still strongly believed SOA is a buzzword for most of the people. I read a lot of sources from the library, on the Web, and asked some of the friends that involved in system integration field, they have their own definitions for SOA. In addition, a 2007 Reader Survey Poll Results revealed that SOA was the most tech buzzword that survey respondents most despise.

In September 2006, Springboard Research, a leading innovator in the IT Market Research industry, released results from its research focused on Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) in Asia. A key finding from the research is that within the Asian region, there is an overall lack of awareness of SOA which is the key factor holding back wider adoption. They surveyed 2,615 CIOs and IT Decision Makers in Australia, China, India, and Singapore and found that only 21% were aware of the concept of SOA. On the other hand, is this just means that SOA is not only unaware, also perceived as overpromise, but underdeliver by most of the IT professionals in Asia? If it is a very good approach, there’s no way the concept of SOA is not pervasive in Asia?

Another question arise, I wonder SOA has gone through the initial stage of hype cycle such as, Peak of Inflated Expectations, Trough of Disillusionment as proposed by Gartner. I also came across an interesting article, entitled “SOA after the hype“. Some excerpts:

The real change is that companies are now using SOA in production–they are realizing first hand that it is not a panacea and that its initial costs are relatively high. SOA applications are composed of many “moving parts” so they are more complex than monolithic applications. Companies using SOA face significant challenges in governance, testing, configuration, version control, metadata management, service-level monitoring, security, interoperability and other disciplines.

Another issue facing the implementation of SOA initiatives is cost and benefit issues. Overall, the start-up cost for SOA is not cheap. A SOA Cost Benefit Survey, conducted by independent research firm GCR Custom Research, cited IT cost savings for Europe and the need for greater business agility for North America as the primary drivers of SOA adoption, and found that the majority of organizations expect IT cost savings of approximately 20 percent over the first 12 months. Around half of SOA budgets are denominated at over $1 million and programs are increasingly characterized as longer-term and wider in scope.

Indeed, a lot of IT professionals advocate SOA, however how much more does a SOA initiative cost. Though the above study indicated the 20 percent of IT cost savings over the first 12 months, and some believed the benefit will outweigh the cost in the long-term basis, but really this can be justified at all?

Stay tuned.