It sounds so obvious when you get right down to it: you need to know what problem you’re solving before you can solve it. Common sense tells you to start with the problem before you can find the solution to the problem. If you start with a solution without knowing what the problem is, then there’s no telling if the solution you have will be the right one for the problems you’re facing.

Obvious, yes, but it never ceases to amaze us at ZapThink that when it comes to service-oriented architecture (SOA) projects, time and again we run into technology teams who don’t have a grasp as to what business problems they’re looking to solve. Now, it might be tempting to dismiss this disconnect to “techies being techies” or some other superficial explanation, but the problem is so pervasive and so common that there must be more to it. As a result, we took a closer look at why so many SOA projects have unclear business drivers. What we found is that the underlying issue has little to do with SOA, and everything to do with the way large businesses are run.

Read more at: ZDNet Blog