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SOA Governance
July 10, 2008

Rajesh Patil

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 Introduction

» In the context of IT, Governance is a framework of rules and principles upon

which an implementation is based.
» Governance plays a key role in the implementation of SOA. Usually these
implementations start with some individual or group very passionate about
the benefits and before you realize it spreads in the organization. The irony is
the ease which these can be created making it difficult to govern.
» A Governance model is as successful as the degree of adoption by the
critical mass.
» An early adoption of Governance is the key to a successful implementation.
» Complete lack of governance leads to loss of control on data, access,
security, standards, and infrastructure. Governance is required at different
stages and at different levels in the organization.

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 SOA Governance Structure
» Centralized as well as de-centralized Governance structure have both the
advantages and disadvantages.
» An optimal structure would be the one which leverages the advantage of both
the structures – the hybrid model.
» Should be an overall part of the Enterprise Governance model
» Each of the groups – development, architects, infrastructure, security plan the
implementation and support for the SOA.
» A smaller and focused central group collaborate with the above groups on
SOA Governance.
» Governance charter to target 80% compliance and also enable exceptions
handling.

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 Governance Framework
» Design Principles - set of principles keeping in mind the implementation and
the technologies that are used in the enterprise and the benefits that are
achieved
» Technology - in line with the existing investment in technology and enterprise
standards.
» Testing - complexity involved in testing SOA, it requires a well planned effort
and ensures that the implementation will meet or exceed the SLAs.
» Infrastructure - SOA in general but especially web services will have an
impact on the need for network, connectivity and hardware.
» Runtime operations - define the performance, reliability, and availability of
the service.
» Vendors – committed to vendors who are committed to the industry standards
» Organization - clear set of roles and responsibilities that ensure the smooth
design, implementation, and runtime governance for SOA

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 SOA Strategies
» Competency center
» Define and communicate best practices across the enterprise
» Build competency in tool, process and technology
» Review and establish adoption of new and emerging technologies
» Engagement
» Engage with both vendors and partners to share the road map on SOA
» Standards
» For any successful implementation of SOA, compliance to industry
standards has to be assured. This will ensure that the SOA
implementation will work both inter and intra organization.
» Performance & Security
» Performance and Security will play a significant role in the success.

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 Questions and Answers

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