I like the way this post, Gartner Says SOA Is Evolving Beyond Its Traditional Roots, starts out: "Despite the economic downturn, Gartner analysts said they do not anticipate a dramatic drop in SOA adoption."
It goes on to quote Jess Thompson, a Research VP we've enjoyed talking to at Gartner: "SOA underpins and enables initiatives aimed at cost reduction, such as SaaS or BPM, and we have noticed a growing interest around SOA from vertical industries like government and healthcare, which have been waiting for the technology and best practices to mature."
The post goes on to acknowledge that there are horror stories about SOA projects failing that have created a perception that the era of SOA is over. However, they add that the lack proper SOA governance is, and will be through 2010, the most common reason for SOA failures. This is something we have discussed a bit on this blog (see Avoiding SOA Disillusionment).
They conclude that quite contrary to going away SOA is actually emerging from the Trough of Disillusionment within Gartner's Hype Cycle and climbing the Slope of Enlightenment. It is good to see this trend in the field. Indeed, their previous commentary on SOA talked about fewer enterprises starting new SOA projects in 2008 - which is true - when you consider that any expansive IT department is already leveraging elements of an SOA model and it is quietly being used to create value.
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