IBM launched its first service-oriented architecture (SOA) initiative in the spring of 2004.
Since that time, the vendor has worked continuously to expand its SOA credentials and to coordinate its SOA activities across all of IBM's business units.
In some ways, SOA has even begun to supplant ``On Demand`` as IBM's primary go-to-market theme.
This report explores the drivers behind the SOA boom and examines some of the overarching SOA themes and approaches IBM is pursuing, including the five approaches that the vendor has identified as customer entry points into SOA assessments and deployments.
It identifies the three main legs supporting IBM's SOA stool—software, services and partner programs—and assesses IBM's over-arching SOA assault, with an eye toward the positioning and capabilities of its major competitors.
Read this Report to Learn:How IBM is using its SOA activities to foster even tighter collaboration between its services and software groups; Which approaches to SOA IBM deems most valuable, and how the company is using its five SOA entry points to help organize and rationalize its broad software portfolio; Why SOA partner programs are so critical, and what IBM is doing to draw ISVs and systems integrators into its SOA ecosystem; and How IBM's emphasis on the business value of SOA is helping the vendor to differentiate itself from its major competitors.