SOA Appliances and Governance Solutions - Isn't this a Backwards Approach?


We are seeing a variety of SOA Appliances and associated networking software in the marketplace IBM (Datapower), Layer 7 Technologies, Reactivity, Forum Systems, F5 Networks, Solace Systems, etc.  Some appliance solutions are positioned to be XML accelerators, some as security solutions, and still others as governance solutions.  This blog is focused on those solutions being hyped as governance solutions.

Putting things into Perspective
IT governance has been around for quite some time now and recently has become more important because of the need for legal compliance in most enterprises.  The introduction of SOA may alter some of the architectural views and policies in the management of enterprises, but shouldn't governance be pretty much business as usual - right?

SOA Governance - Architecture, Development and Management
SOA Governance can be categorized into "1) Architecture Governance 2) Development Governance (Design-Time) and 3) Operational Governance/Management (Run-Time)" according to Brent Carlson, VP of technology and co-founder at LogicLibrary www.logiclibrary.com . The flow of governance initiative should follow a "typical" SDLC process - start with architecture, development and then the monitoring and management of policies at run time.
So what is all the fuss about SOA Appliances and Governance solutions all of a sudden?

SOA Appliances and Governance Software Solutions are Enablers

SOA Appliances and associated software solutions are enablers of automated run-time operational management for governance policies.  What's different about this is that these devices can now tap into the network and intercept SOAP messages to see what is happening in your enterprise.  These appliances now enable enterprises to automate the monitoring and management of governance policies within the enterprise, ie. SLA’s.
SOA Appliances shouldn’t be driving your Governance Decision

If you have already instituted IT governance in your organization and are now looking to implement SOA governance in your enterprise then it might be an appropriate time to consider these solutions in your SOA deployment. However if you have never broached the subject of governance in your organization you may want to start with understanding what governance and service-oriented architecture is all about before you run out and buy these appliances and put them into your network. 

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