During the past 20 years, the IT industry has seen its share of paradigm shifts. There was the highly anticipated but unfulfilled promise of client/server. The ERP mania gripped companies large and small and created a great deal of pain and not enough payback. The race to Y2K and the subsequent Y2K hangover were followed by the dot-com euphoria, whose bubble burst, ushering in the dark age of conservatism, scrutiny, and paranoia. For some consultants and systems integrators (SI) this period was quite lucrative; for others not. And still many have endured by modifying their strategies and being flexible and agile.

Now, the new game in town is service-oriented architecture (SOA).

Although enterprise application vendors' SOA technologies—such as Oracle Fusion and SAP Enterprise Services Architecture (ESA)/NetWeaver, among others—are still evolving, with adoption likely to be slow at first, change is in the air. Companies that do not tend to hire consultants may consider doing so. Also, many companies are running older versions of packaged applications and will need to upgrade to take advantage of SOA. The caveat here is that what may be perceived as disruptive but important technology for large enterprises and larger mid-sized companies, is, for the most part, neither on the minds nor on the radar of most small and mid-sized businesses.

David H. Andrews, CEO of Andrews Consulting Group (ACG), an SI whose sweet spot is performing JD Edwards (now Oracle) implementations in mid-sized companies, says ACG has explored mid-market interest in SOA and found that, among its customers, SOA is not something in which they are currently interested.

"When this concept [i.e., SOA] matures, ...software will be built out of reusable building blocks" and should be "easier to maintain and upgrade." The issue for Andrews' clients is this: How does this translate into something I need to care about? Until a proof point emerges that is articulated in some compelling way, such as a killer application, SOA still remains intriguing yet impractical for the mid-market.

For those companies that will be early adopters of SOA technologies, the relationship between company and consultant is likely to have a different timbre. Michael Liebow, Vice President for Web Services and SOA at IBM Global Services (IGS), concedes that a new paradigm of consulting is here, but it will be difficult to reach. Liebow sees early adopters as being CIOs who are innovative and have a seat at the table with the business units. He sees not only the largest enterprises, but also innovative and competitive mid-sized companies as potential early adopters.

However, whether in large enterprises or in larger mid-sized companies, the urban-legend days of consultants comfortably settling in for the rest of their natural lives on a project that ultimately runs over time and over budget are gone. Andrews points out that "the era of the giant project is over. Only a few companies take on the big projects they did in the past." Big-project-weary CIOs and other IT executives still bear the scars of projects gone awry and are not only more cautious, but are now more likely to be made accountable to higher authorities.

For consultants and SIs to continue to be viable and in demand in this brave new world, in both large enterprises and the mid-market, they will need to adapt and adhere to new and different rules of engagement, some of which are discussed below.

Myth Buster—There is a great deal of confusion around SOA. While many understand the buzzword, they do not know what it means for their organizations and if it means anything at all—at least for now. Consultants and SIs need to help clients ferret out what is and what is not applicable to their needs as well as how SOA applications can deliver return on the value of their investments. Any deployment will have to have clear and measurable business ramifications.
Partner in Accountability—Consultants and SIs have already begun to see that they need to put some skin in the game by partnering with the client. As their clients move toward SOA, they will need to share accountability for project successes and/or failures. One way to ensure this is to negotiate service-level agreements (SLAs) that are part of the contract and clearly define expectations—on both sides.
Vertical Industry Expert—Consultants and SIs cannot be all things to all clients. Instead, they will need to develop prowess in specific industry verticals to have a better understanding of their clients' businesses and be able to provide expertise over and above that of the client's existing resources. Joerg Rohde, Vice President of CIBER Novasoft, perceives that the industry is on the adoption cusp of SOA. Rohde is adamant about consultants providing value-added offerings and taking a template-based approach as CIBER is doing with its RapidRetail offering, which includes "the key deliverables required in a SAP retail implementation." Andrews says the future for consultants is in creating "canned" reusable offerings as ACG has done in business intelligence with its RapidDecision solution for its JD Edwards' customers.
Educator—Consultants and SIs should prepare to share information more readily and provide more education and knowledge transfer to the client's staff. Consultants should also work equitably with IT and business unit staff. An example of such outreach is CIBER's branch offices hosting seminars to enable clients and prospective customers to learn about SOA.
Trust Builder—IT decision-makers today are well-informed regarding working with consultants and SIs. However, it is incumbent upon SIs and consultants to be open and honest, versus surreptitious and esoteric, even if it means less revenue in the short-term.
Financial Advisor—Consultants and SIs will need to work with their clients to develop total cost of ownership (TCO) projections over significant timeframes (i.e., at least five years) to demonstrate the cost of maintaining existing systems now and into the future versus implementing integrated, componentized systems that will provide TCO payback in the future.

Whether for large enterprises or the mid-market, when it comes to SOA, the rules of engagement for clients and consultants will change. Consultants and SIs will need to understand that SOA is not likely to be a bet-your-business technology. It is likely that IT executives and decision-makers will make decisions about SOA based on business requirements and will engage only if there is hard-dollar or other measurable return on the value of their investment.

Maria A. DeGiglio is President of, and Principal Analyst for, Maria A. DeGiglio & Associates, an advisory firm that provides clients with accurate and actionable information on business and technology initiatives. You can reach Ms. DeGiglio at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Maria DeGiglio is president and principal analyst of Maria A. DeGiglio & Associates. Current clients of Maria A. DeGiglio & Associates include the Visiting Nurse Service of New York ; Experture, LLC; and MC Press. Ms. DeGiglio has more than 20 years of experience as an IT consultant, industry analyst, and executive. From 1997 to 2005, she worked for Andrews Consulting Group and the Robert Frances Group.

 

Ms. DeGiglio received her Masters Degree in Health Advocacy from Sarah Lawrence College and graduated Cum Laude from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree.

 

 

Ms. DeGiglio has worked with IT and C-level executives to enable IT alignment with business goals and to implement best practices. She has experience and expertise in both large enterprises and in small- and medium-sized business. Ms. DeGiglio has authored over one hundred articles, reports, and white papers.

 

 

Since 2004, she has worked in the healthcare industry and in health IT investigating the legal, ethical, and regulatory aspects of creating, implementing, and exchanging electronic health records (EHRs). Ms. DeGiglio is an expert in security, privacy, and HIPAA regulatory compliance.

 

 

Ms. DeGiglio may be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

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