An Integrated Model for SOA Governance

Abstract: The concept of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) expresses a new idea for organizing a service-based business environment. However, without wise governance, SOA fails. Therefore, this study focuses on the elucidation of the following issues: What are the critical roles of SOA Governance that promotes the attractiveness of a service-based business environment as well as what factors can inhibit the role of SOA Governance? The primary objective is based on the believe that an integrated model of governance can improve the understanding of people, i.e. stakeholders, in their efforts to establish a comprehensive architectural pattern that coordinate any effort aiming to make service-based business environment attractive. This work elucidates the roles of SOA Governance. Accordingly, the primary and most significant role of such governance is the establishment and management of a negotiated and accepted SOA. The equivalent crucial second role of such governance is to use the established architecture and coordinate every related effort that promotes the attractiveness of an architected reality. In this sense, the service oriented architecture follows the wisdom of such governance. In the same sense, any effort that change the service-based business environment of business follows the premises of the established service oriented architecture. Therefore, we can conclude that the wisdom of SOA Governance promotes the attractiveness of a service-based architected environment Furthermore, the work indicates that there are three main factors that inhibit the role of wise governance. Firstly, a fuzzy, inconsistent, incomplete, ambiguous terminology upon which the concept of SOA and SOA Governance are described, designed, evaluated, etc. Secondly, conflicts of interests and contradictory core ideas, such as alignment, agility, reusability, efficiency, etc. provided by different disciplines, i.e. Software Engineering, IT Management, Enterprise Architecture, etc., that inhibit the choice of a comprehensive architectural style for a service-based business environment. Lastly, the plethora of interesting but otherwise isolated and incomplete models of both SOA and SOA Governance create a sense of uncertainty, and therefore, create the need for endless process of acquisition of information. In the face of these critical issues that inhibit the role of wise governance, our study has developed an integrated model of SOA Governance aiming to clarify the relationship between governance, architecture, and service-based business environment. The model has been tested empirically with acceptable and fruitful results. The above conclusions may be seen as a result of an adequate approach of inquiry consisting of three main stages. Firstly, a theory that shapes every part of this study. Secondly, the creation of a better and more integrated model (framework) for SOA Governance derived from the distillation of large volume theoretical ideas and models. These theoretical ideas concern both the characteristics of SOA and the wisdom of SOA Governance. Lastly, a fruitful comparative understanding between theoretical and empirical views of SOA environments with respect to identified issues of both SOA and SOA Governance. By this way, we have tested both the validity and reliability of the proposed model. In any case, we do not say the proposed model is completed both theoretically and empirically. What we say is that it is a promising idea to develop further the result of our effort.