Critical Success Factors in SOA Implementation: An Exploratory Study

Comparative analysis demonstrates both similarities and differences in the perspectives presented by a range of research literatures, proceeding to suggest complementary methods of SOA adoption that take account of both vendors' and users' needs.

Abstract

In recent years, the movement to establish a concept of service science has consolidated itself as a new academic discipline (NESSI, 2007 NESSI. (2007). Unified View for European research in Services Architectures and Software Infrastructures. nessieurope. http://www.nessieurope.com/Nessi/AboutNESSI/Overview/tabid/152/Default.aspx (Accessed: 12 January 2009). [Google Scholar]; IBM Academic Initiative, 2007 IBM (2008, April). Five Best Practices for Deploying a Successful Service-oriented Architecture. IBM Global Services. IBM Web site http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/its/pdf/wp_five-best-practices-for-deploying-successful-soa.pdf (Accessed: 10 September 2008). [Google Scholar]; Spohrer, Maglio, Bailey, & Gruhl, 2007 Spohrer, J., Maglio, P., Bailey, J. and Gruhl, D. 2007. Steps toward a Science of Service Systems. Computer-IEEE Computer Society, 40(1): 71[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). Service science is taking a growing interest in Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), a framework which promises to develop a flexible and a robust IT-based service capable of responding efficiently to business demands. However, the development of SOA remains at a nascent stage and many early adopting firms find it difficult to establish effective strategies for adopting the framework, especially since they cannot be sure of its successful implementation. The current paper takes the form of an exploratory study based on a review of 34 SOA literatures and 22 interviews and claims to identify twenty factors in successful SOA adoption; the paper subsequently defines a concrete implementation policy for each factor. Comparative analysis, drawing on interviews with vendors and users, demonstrates both similarities and differences in the perspectives presented by a range of research literatures, proceeding to suggest complementary methods of SOA adoption that take account of both vendors' and users' needs. Thus far, research on SOA implementation has not offered a detailed account of the critical success factors (CSFs) conducive to successful SOA adoption. This work thus fills a gap in more closely reflecting the reality of putting SOA into practice.