Just in case the bombast of the title is not enough of a clue, the authors of Service Orient or Be Doomed waste no time in setting out their illustrious stall. This, the reader is told, is “the most important business book ever”; and soon they hear that, in comparison, all other business titles are mere “get rich quick manuals” or “even losers [like you] can get a job” guide. Technology management books fare even worse.

n the build up, they are treated to a potted history of all that is wrong with IT today, stopping off via often-amusing — though hardly revealing — descriptions of why commercial train rails (at least within national boundaries) are set at standard gauges. And while the authors attempt to ensure that a complex subject is explained simply by using regular ‘Jargon Watch’ boxes to breakdown issues, even the most technology-illiterate readers would surely question the need for a quarter-page explanation of the term ‘techie’.

This preamble harms the genuinely valuable discourse that follows: during the latter stages of the book, there are thought-provoking and interesting explorations of the profound impact that the adoption of a service-oriented architecture (SOA) will have on business and the IT department, changes that will enable both to evolve into highly agile and responsive entities.

Read more at: Information Age