IBM says SOA has reached tipping point

IT directors are increasingly interested in deploying service oriented architectures (SOAs) for more flexible IT infrastructures and this is beginning to affect their application purchasing decisions, according to a senior IBM executive.

Mike Borman, vice-president of worldwide sales at IBM's software group, said customer interest in SOAs had this year moved from theoretical discussions to practical investigations of how to develop SOA platforms.

IT chiefs understand how SOAs allow application components to be flexibly and quickly reused to better support changing business processes, he added. "People are now saying, 'I understand what SOA is and I know it brings benefits, but what do I do next?'" he said.

Borman said that globally IBM is on track to undertake 1,000 SOA Project Definition Workshops with individual customers by the end of the year.

SOA strategies are also beginning to affect firms' application decisions, according to Borman. "Very few firms have fully deployed an SOA, but many are now implementing SOA frameworks and are embarking on the journey to fit all their apps and processes into that framework," he said. "That means that whenever a customer is deciding which new apps to buy or develop, the question of how the apps fit into their SOA framework will be a key factor in the decision."

The comments come a week after IBM bolstered its credentials in SOA tools by launching new software and services to help firms to manage SOA environments.

Called SOA Governance, the new portfolio features best practices and processes for managing SOAs, as well as enhanced SOA management modules from IBM's Rational application tools range, its Tivoli management software suite and WebSphere middleware portfolio.

Borman said the new portfolio underlined the growing maturity of SOA technology. "We have enhanced several of the products to ensure better integration and a better view of business processes. The next step now is more about execution with our customers rather than the portfolio," he added.