No I'm not a weirdo with some software fetish. By K.I.S.S of course I mean the tried and true "Keep it Simple, Stupid" method. Now I am not saying that SOA is simple so let's get that out of the way right now. I've been doing this long enough to know that it is far from simple. In fact, I've been doing this long enough to know that it is actually quite complex. Of course like most things in the software architecture world, we over complicate it to the point where we either paralyze ourselves or paralyze the very people we are trying to help.
Show of hands:
How many of you have sat through an SOA lecture or webinar and come away with a headache?
That's what I thought.
Of course we also have the opposite problem at times. Some people like to make it SO simple that all you have to do is buy their product or implement their program and voila, you're service oriented. How many of you have gotten that presentation?
Like most things in life, the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Yes it is complex and yes it will take time and commitment to achieve ultimate success. But SOA is not something you just do. It’s not a project you assign to someone to tackle. SOA is an iterative process that involves the entire organization and there are successes to be had along the way. It is the culmination of these successes that ultimately results in overall success of your SOA initiative. Taking on too much at one time or trying to big bang or fast track your way to SOA will ultimately lead to failure. So again I say, "Keep it Simple, Stupid".
In a series of posts I will lay out a simple plan for achieving iterative success. Don't take this as a recipe to follow exactly or as your definitive guide to SOA. Instead take it as a blueprint of sorts; a series of checkpoints and milestones that can be tackled iteratively. Each one comes with its own success, some small, some big. Remember, something doesn't have to end world hunger to be classified as a success. Sometimes it might be nothing more than knowing more today than you did yesterday. As long as you are moving forward down the path.
Step 1 - Stake in the Ground
We'll start right off with one of those simple successes. It may not seem like much, but simply making a decision to address your issues is a success. Of course this needs to be more than 1 person making the decision. It has to be a top down decision stating that the efforts to address the issues and work towards a SOA will be supported both verbally and financially.
A key piece of this step is also to understand the issues at a high level. This understanding has to go all the way to the top. You don't need to know or understand each and every issue in exhaustive detail or how to solve it though. That will come in time. Simply recognizing that there is a problem is a big step that is often overlooked and the decision to support an SOA initiative has to come from that recognition and not from some charitable management offering (e.g. "Well IT wants to play around with some new stuff so let’s give them just enough leash so they'll go away").
A formal speech or email from the CIO (or equivalent) that expresses the commitment and support of the effort is an important milestone. This will not only express the top down support, but emphasize that it is not a passive or low priority initiative. This will go a long way in motivating everyone to participate or at the very least not hinder the effort.
_______________________
Next up: Education
No comments:
Post a Comment