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Redefining SOA Governance

  • Artikel

My third post in a row about the notion of SOA Governance.  You'd think I was planning to speak about Governance this week.  (I am).

In general, Governance is a set of processes, responsibilities, and tools that reinforce good behavior and help avoid bad behavior.  With SOA Governance, we want to build a useful SOA environment, prove the ROI, and insure we don't screw up security.  We do this with policies and processes (mostly process).  Policy can only be applied to a small fraction of the governance problem.

Now, break it down further.  Only a fraction of SOA policies can be verified or reinforced with tools. 

Therefore, while SOA tools are useful, they don't deliver governance.   In my honest opinion, it is not rational to use the word Governance to refer to a tool at all.  After all, we don't refer to to Microsoft Operations Manager as a "systems governance tool," and SQL Server is not a "data governance tool." 

Here's a novel idea: Let's use similar words that have been successfully applied in other areas, so that the meaning is clear.  If MOM is a Network Management tool, then Systinet, IONA, and Amberpoint are Service Management tools. 

Tools manage.  People govern.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    April 22, 2007
    Perfect. I suggested "Direction" because I'm a movie fan, but in this business "Direction" has a different connotation than in the Movie business. "Management," however, is a much more generic term, and which has already been applied in similar ways in the software business. In addition, it exactly applies to the Governance process.

  • Anonymous
    April 23, 2007
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    April 24, 2007
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    April 26, 2007
    Is this rant because Microsoft doesn't provide a Governance solution of its own? Gary E. Smith

  • Anonymous
    April 26, 2007
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    May 04, 2007
    I think there is a definite distinction between Governance best practices and then tools that enable you to apply Governance to an SOA. You are right, there are few vendors that unify everything. But then I would encourage you to ask where are companies having the biggest pain today? We are now embarking on new territory where IT & Service Management is being upgraded to SOA Management; IT Governance is now applying SOA Governance, and soon we'll start to see CIOs be replaced by CSOAs. Definitely I would like to see how you define SOA Management as a key integral part of collecting run-time information for closed loop SOA Governance, I think a lot of folks are heading the same direction!

  • Anonymous
    May 06, 2007
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    May 17, 2007
    Hi Nick Everyone seems to have a different view as to what SOA governance is for. This link (if it works) goes to a Plexo vote on the purpose of SOA Governance. Click'>http://www.squidoo.com/soagovernance/#module2374269

  • Anonymous
    May 20, 2007
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    May 21, 2007
    Thank you, Ian. Well said.  Yes, tools should make the governance processes simpler.  That's their role.  But good governance doesn't come from good tools. It comes from well understood and simple decision rights.

  • Anonymous
    September 24, 2007
    Financial and Banking I work with a bunch of people that used to work in Collateral at ABN Amro, so it