Heavy-duty software concepts such as service-oriented architecture are rarely the subject of Friday evening pub conversation. But they are the fundamental technology building-blocks that enable much of the world as we know it to function. It's also stuff best left to the experts, but sometimes even the experts get it wrong. Bad policy decisions, poorly assembled teams and lousy communication can send projects into a spiral of delays and budget overruns.
It all comes back to an ages-old concept of 'getting IT to understand the business". That means having the IT group working to not just to provide a service that runs a business, but understanding enough of the business to proactively meet its needs. I was writing about this 15 years ago. I'm still writing about it now, indicating the lack of progress that many organisations have made towards bringing it into reality.
Hence it was a pleasure to talk to these chaps from MLC, to find out about their quest to align IT to the needs of the business in support of their own SOA project, working with technology from US company Tibco. This story won't be for everyone, but if you've ever wondered what are the problems that the pointy chaps from the IT department really stay awake worrying about, then check out my story in MIS Australia by clicking here.
Also - this will be my last story for MIS Australia for the forseeable future - although in a few months you'll see my name popping up once more at my old stomping ground of CIO Australia.
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