ITKO

For SOA Software, Quality is In the Field

Is your company in the business of creating enterprise software that is delivered within an SOA (Services-Oriented Architecture) environment? How can you improve your quality processes, not just during product development, but throughout your consulting and support engagements, where customer satisfaction levels are the most critical?

Face it: the days of telling software customers "my way or the highway" in terms of a software implementation strategy are long gone. Customer deployment sites in an SOA world consist of an extremely heterogeneous set of possible technologies.

The lifecycle of SOA software delivery is only just beginning when the license agreement is signed. Thereafter, you are committing to support your services-based software as it interacts with the customers' existing systems. Enterprise IT groups understand and expect that at least 90% percent of their budget will not go to new software licenses or equipment - the majority of the spend will go toward the continuous service and support of their applications.

If creating SOA software is your core business, and you are concerned with improving software quality, don't just stop at making your product developers "agile." Make your whole organization agile, especially in your field and support organizations, where the most potential for integration efficiency and untapped value lies.