SOA gets off to a slow start

Service-oriented architectures (SOA) are still spreading very slowly in Germany according to a study by the German Experton Group. At present just 10 percent of companies is actively occupied with this architecture, every second company plans a possible SOA initiative implementation. Around a third of those asked possess no or only very fragmentary knowledge.

Analysts are nevertheless assuming that SOA will become the dominant topic for companies in the mid and long term. Companies in the service, finance, trade and communication sectors and public authorities will increasingly implement SOA in the coming 2 years, according to the study. “Here it will above all be larger organisations”, believes Experton. The topic is less extensively widespread amongst companies with up to 500 employees than amongst larger companies.

“Most companies get into SOA with tactical intentions”, explains Matthias Zacher, Senior Advisor for the Experton Group. They apply the “Start Small“ principle and usually begin with limited projects. The architectural principles of an SOA are thus realised within a limited task; the number of services and thus the specialist functions is still clearly limited.