Being an Information Manager...

To hype or not to hype

I have written a few times before about SOA (service oriented architecture) and recently I get more and more exposed to consultants in suits that have SOA in all their Powerpoint slides and I start to realise that we are at the top of the hype cycle with respect to SOA and data integration. Quite often it becomes something that sounds like this: 'if you have a hammer than everything looks like a nail'.

So my advice to all people that require integration: Avoid these people and concentrate on the question: what kind of integration problem am I trying to solve!

My view is that we should sell real solutions and not label everything with the next buzzword. Note that I do not disagree with the general principles of SOA - I'm just very sceptical about overselling something that is rarely understood and which is still hard work! And the other thing is: Business people do not want to hear about SOA or any other techno jargon. They just want to see solutions that work and do not want to sink millions in mega projects with a high chance of failure.

So - consultants - let's get back to the coalface and show me an incremental integration strategy that delivers something quickly! And forget about SOA.

Labels: SOA

posted by Evert Ruijs @ 11:06 AM