Moving beyond SOA: enabling faster response to business change

Overview

For businesses success depends on capitalising on new opportunities as they arise. This requires a nimble and agile IT infrastructure, where applications and data can be swiftly reorganised and deployed without breaking the other systems or processes that support operational responsiveness. A Computing survey has found that few enterprises would describe themselves as able to move swiftly enough to make the most of new opportunities. Poorly organised, inconsistent data and a complex IT integration infrastructure are part of the problem.

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) has worked to free up systems to some degree - within those organisations that are using it - but it has only gone so far, revealing distinct limitations in how to handle dynamic changes to data and policies.