The end of business as usual: Service-oriented business transformation

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a new approach for organizing and isolating application functionality, built on a flexible and reusable foundation of services. It has the capacity to expand the reach of the enterprise by enabling services to define and transform relationships and, in so doing, expand the scope of what Information Technology can make possible. Above all, service orientation focuses on the business imperative and offers opportunities to approach business issues in a different way. In short, SOA means the end of business as usual. This paper briefly outlines some of the key challenges businesses need to overcome in order to become Service-Oriented Enterprises. For more in depth discussion on the topic, read the book Mashup Corporations: The End of Business as Usual.