On the SOA failures, continued

So, why do most SOA initiatives fail? Or at least fail to reach their full potential?

I think it has to do with the fact that SOA is not a technology, it's a philosophy. It's a way of thinking about business automation. It's a way to let the computers do what they do best -- repetitive, boring tasks that humans don't like doing very much.

And like all philosophies, you will have your most ardent supporters and your most vehement opponents.

Add the fact that the word "SOA" has now become a cringe-worthy buzzword, pimped out by the vendors looking to score some quick consulting dollars and you'll start to see why a lot of people profess their support in public, while doing all they can to scuttle it in private.

I once met a guy whose sole job was to take an incoming currency rate text file and import it into an Access database. That's it! Is this the guy that would be the biggest champion of an "insertRateFileIntoAccess" service? Doubtful.