The four stages of successful SOA

There's been a lot of talk about the benefits of service oriented architecture (SOA) as of late. Some deployments have actually come to fruition, but a SOA remains a long-term goal for most enterprises. The key to a SOA is making sure that you understand the four separate stages, why they can't be skipped and how they tie into the ultimate pay-off for your investment. The four stages focus on IT silos, standardized IT, standardized business processes and business modularity. Both IT and business units must undergo each step before any benefit can be reaped. 

Understanding the stages of SOA:
- read the in-depth article at CIO magazine