I think you have a point here. ROI means a lot more in the context of business instead of IT. If the usage of SOA concepts are initiated by IT, who already has a budget for a project and a schedule, ROI probably doesn't make too much sense at that stage. Should IT not think about SOA at this stage because it's too late? I would say no.
Now, this brings us back to the question that's been repeated here - should SOA be initiated by a business or IT. IMHO, it doesn't matter too much as long as both parties become involved as time goes along. IMHO, SOA is a concept which has some best practices suitable for many organizations but no one fixed implementation guideline that's suitable all organizations (as is the same for most concepts involving human factor). H.Ozawa --- In [email protected], Steve Jones <jones.ste...@...> wrote: > > + 1/2. > > ROI is a badly abused term in IT as most business cases appear to be > "spend another x million and we promise that THIS time it will > deliver" > > However if you work in a world (e.g. Outsourcing) where those elements > can be not only quantified but contractually enforced then they become > real. > > I did a piece with a company a few years back where I shifted some of > the bonuses from being IT awarded to being business awarded, now that > helped to focus the minds on real business ROI over fake IT ROI. > > Steve > > > 2009/5/27 Alexander Johannesen <alexander.johanne...@...>: > > > > > > On Wed, May 27, 2009 at 13:35, htshozawa <htshoz...@...> wrote: > >> Are you implying that ROI calculation is unnecessary because there may be > >> some other benefit gained? > > > > I think ROI in general is a word made up by consultants to enable them > > to justify selling their services to potential clients, but I wouldn't > > jut imply such a thing, I'd state out quite loud and clear that ROI > > calculations quite often is missing the point, barking up the wrong > > tree, bereft of insight and blindingly stupid in their consequences. > > > > Sure, hang on; I have seen good ones too, although they tend to be > > more like summaries, pointers and strategies from some real talented > > people rather than intricate, complex and specific "we got some > > insight for you to marvel at" that's often drawn up. Everybody is > > BSing to some degree, be it consultant, internal or external person. > > Someone is writing these reports with acclaimed insights that often do > > not hold water when scrutinized (but who's gonna do that when it all > > *sounds* so good and clever and is backed with good-looking graphs!). > > And all this with the disclaimer that I used to be a consultant and > > was longing to get out of it often due to the BS in enterprise > > business that pass as muster these days. Just like the term "SOA" has > > been shafted into the ground by some of these companies, so has the > > phrases "ROI" and "TTM"; it's the business of speaking like a business > > for the sake of that business, rather than just focusing on *why* > > you're in that business and how you should move on. (Heh, you can tell > > I'm a practitioner rather than a talker, right? :) > > > > Ahem. Just ignore this silly rant. It's been a long day of reading > > through a lot of enterprisey systems documentation that speak of > > "reducing cost at the vendor level and increasing amptitude for > > first-in-line support resources through the use of middle-ware enabled > > third-party plugin architecture using the projected SOA initiative" > > which has got so many factors and unknowns and silly words and idiotic > > pipe-dream upholstery in it that it just makes my brain melt to think > > people can think it must be true. Where's my Martini(s!) when I need > > it? > > > > :) > > > > Alex > > -- > > ---------------------------------------------------------- > > Project Wrangler, SOA, Information Alchemist, UX, RESTafarian, Topic Maps > > ------------------------------------------ http://shelter.nu/blog/ -------- > > >
