--- In [email protected], Todd Biske <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I agree with everything I said. :)
Consistency is always reassuring, Todd! Perhaps Rob will be telling us that SOA is an oxymoron next.... Gervas > > -tb > Todd Biske > http://www.biske.com/blog/ > > On Sep 26, 2008, at 11:38 AM, Gervas Douglas wrote: > > > <<During my soapbox derby discussion at the SOA Consortium meeting, I > > chose to discuss SOA Governance, and I thought that one of the > > messages I delivered would be another appropriate post to highlight > > some of the content in my upcoming book. > > > > As I've said in this blog, SOA governance is the combination of > > people, policies, and processes that an organization uses to achieve > > the desired behavior associated with SOA adoption. This post, not > > surprisingly , will focus on the process component. Previously, I had > > a post explaining that governance does not imply command and control. > > Those two words only bring to mind one of the four processes: > > enforcement. There are three additional processes that your governance > > effort must also implement. The four processes are: > > > > * Policy definition > > * Education and communication > > * Enforcement > > * Measurement and feedback > > > > Policy definition is concerned with establishing the policies that the > > governance team feels will result in the desired behavior if they are > > followed. Without policy, the rest of the organization must either > > guess what the correct decisions are to get to the desired outcome, or > > involve someone from the governance team on every single project. The > > first option is unlikely to lead to success, and the second option has > > both scalability issues as well as being prone to variation based upon > > the "tribal knowledge" of the particular person from the governance > > team involved. Defining and documenting the policies is step one > > toward gaining consistency in the outcome. > > > > Education and communication is the next step, not enforcement. Just > > because the governance team has reached agreement and documented the > > policies doesn't mean they're going to be followed, or even known for > > that matter. A formal, planned communication effort to educate the > > organization on why you're adopting SOA, the desired behavior you hope > > to achieve, and the policies that are being put in place to achieve > > them is required. It's not a one time presentation to all of IT, but > > rather a series of targeted communications for the various roles in > > the organization, large group presentations, small team presentations, > > blogs, wikis, and appropriate surveys and followups to ensure that the > > communication is effective. > > > > Enforcement is the third step. Even if your communication efforts are > > incredibly successful, you still need to put processes in place to > > ensure the policies are being followed. What you will find, however, > > is the better job you can do on communication and education, the > > easier your enforcement processes can be. If education is poor, > > enforcement will likely need to be more heavy-handed. Where possible, > > automated testing and reporting can certainly make the processes more > > efficient and cost-effective. > > > > Finally, the governance group must have measurement and feedback > > processes to ensure that progress is being made toward the desired > > behavior. If the desired behavior is not reached, something needs to > > be changed, and it could easily be the policies, the processes, or the > > people involved with governance. Accountability is lost if the team > > puts policies and processes in place, but then does nothing to verify > > that all that effort actually paid off.>> > > > > You can find Todd's blog at: http://www.biske.com/blog/?p=506 > > > > Thanks to José Carlos for pointing this out on fb. > > > > Gervas > > > > > > >
