ZapThink echoes these findings in a recent article titled ‘The Service Oriented Architecture Talent Squeeze.’ ZapThink predicts ‘a dramatic surge in the demand for SOA consulting in 2005, which heralds a challenging time for the Professional Services Organization (PSO) business reminiscent of the late 1990s.’ ZapThink goes on to predict a shortage of skilled consultants to meet the demand. ZapThink cautions, ‘Even though consulting firms large and small are building SOA teams, the number of consultants they are training or putting into early SOA engagements is far less than the number that enterprises will require in the coming year to two years. There will be movement between small and large firms, as well as recruiting from industry, but there will also be a trend among consultants to leave their firms and work directly for enterprises. As a result, there will be a talent squeeze that will drive up the rates of the more experienced consultants, and driv e down the quality of the average consultant, as large numbers of inexperienced and poorly trained consultants chase the rapidly growing, newly available opportunities. Just as with the dot.com buildout, the shortage of consultants may seriously impact companies’ ability to execute the business transformation they require, and may degrade the overall quality of SOA implementations.’

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