Adoption is still on the upswing, and plenty of companies have realized moderate wins or even big gains through SOA integration, streamlined processes or both. What will inevitably follow is the "trough of disillusionment" in which critics will stir an SOA and BPM backlash. One of their chief complaints is likely to be the chaos that will ensue as service and process components multiply and companies start to loose track of how they all fit together.SOA and BPM should be discussed together because they are "joined at the hip," as Derek Miers argues in an upcoming white paper. "Common to both approaches is the concept of loose coupling, which enables both internal and external applications to be spread across a distributed technology infrastructure," Miers writes."They both encourage reuse... [and] can adapt in line with changing needs of the prevailing competitive environment, rather than being constrained by brittle, tightly integrated applications. The response to a given business need is composed (from loosely coupled components) rather than tightly integrated at design time. If approached correctly, the cost of development and maintenance is considerably reduced."
What has yet to be seen among many SOA — and BPM-adopting organizations is whether they can make the transition from "once-and-done IT project" thinking to an ongoing, holistic and enterprisewide approach to these disciplines.
