Compare the two figures, one depicting a traditional centralized IT organizational structure, the other featuring a decentralized IT structure. Combine this latter approach with an Integration Competency Center (ICC), and you will be on the road to SOA success. Gartner has predicted that more than half of all large enterprises ($1 billion or more in revenue) have an ICC by now, and that a well-run ICC can have a positive payback for almost all midsize or large-scale integration scenarios.
Additionally, an enterprise architecture group, not commonly found in traditional IT, is critical to an effective corporate integration program and SOA strategy.
Viewed across two axes, it's clear that the horizontal nature of the ICC and the central IT groups provide technical service across business units, while the vertical nature of the enterprise architecture group indicates that its focus is primarily technical but it does not have insight into the business.
How best to integrate the two? In a service-oriented IT organization, the relationship manager is in the best position to help move the SOA strategy and vision forward with the business units. The relationship manager must be the business optimization and innovation champion. This role must shift form the vertical business processes within the context of the IT vision. The relationship manager is key in developing and communicating the IT strategy to the business units and the business strategy to IT.
And the relationship manager must evolve from simply a problem solver and liaison to a gtrue collaborator with the business. The relationship manager needs to gain credibility by demonstrating an understanding of not only the technology, but business domain as well. Furthermore, in order for relationship manager to be most effective, they should become part of the business unit strategy team.
Furthermore, the enterprise architecture group has evolved from primarily a technical focus to a more business focus. The enterprise is responsible for enterprise architecture, the SOA strategy, and end-to-end technical business process designs that span multiple business units. The service development group is thus the provider of services.
There are, of course, other important aspects to developing a successful IT organizational structure for SOA. More information on this topic can be found in a white paper here. |
