The adoption of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is delivering business benefits that reach well beyond the IT function according to a recent study by Muzeview, a research and consulting firm focused on foresight and innovation and The SOA Monitor, an SOA services company. The study, entitled 'Business Guide to the Impact of SOA,' reviewed and analyzed 100 publicly documented examples and case studies of organizations that have implemented or are in the process of implementing SOA. The study revealed that organizations adopting SOA are doing so in response to a clear set of business and IT imperatives and are generating tangible business results. Specifically, the study found:

1. Organizations adopting SOA are faced by one or more of three critical business forces ( market intensity, customer and service complexity and external integration intensity) and one or more of two critical IT forces (technology intensity and IT stress):

2. Organizations are focusing on one or more of six business objectives with their SOA initiatives in order to deliver revenue growth or cost reduction. The business objectives are: (a) Offering new or improved products and services. (14% of organizations are found addressing this objective.) (b) Improving customer experience (58% organizations are found addressing this objective) (c) Improving partner experience (25% organizations are found addressing this objective) (d) Improving employee experience (27% organizations are found addressing this objective) (e) Increasing speed (63% organizations are found addressing this objective) (f) Improving quality (22% organizations are found addressing this objective)

The study has cataloged the specific financial and operational benefits achieved as well as categorized the areas within the organization that are benefiting from SOA-enabled capabilities.

Paul Gladen, President of Muzeview, commented: 'SOA is a powerful approach to IT development and management that deserves the attention of business executives and managers across the enterprise. One of our objectives with this study has been to engage the interest of business leaders in SOA and stimulate collaboration with their IT teams in exploring the potential of SOA to deliver business benefits.'

Sooraj Balgobin, Managing Partner of The SOA Monitor, added: 'We believe SOA will soon become a business imperative for most organizations, and in fact we would argue that it already has in certain sectors such as financial services and telecom. Those companies that fail to embrace it will be swept away by faster and more flexible SOA-enabled competitors.'