Adopting a service-oriented architecture promises to transform rigid networks into flexible, agile application services delivery platforms that compile disparate IT components on the fly to meet business demands. The concept appeals to many - 87% of 100 CIOs recently polled by Goldman Sachs say they are using Web services now, and 54% plan to deploy infrastructure to support SOA by year-end. But many IT executives still have trouble identifying the practical steps needed to achieve an enterprise SOA. Vendors are more than willing to jump in and help out.

The catch is that SOA isn't easily packaged into new software license sales for vendors. SOA is more about changing the way IT delivers application services through architecture than getting a specific technology set in place. For instance, Web services technology and enterprise service bus (ESB) products could be part of an SOA, but companies using Web services and ESBs don't necessarily have an SOA. To make money in a growing yet still ambiguous market - the overall Web services market is expected to reach $21.6 billion by 2009, IDC says - vendors are adapting product-based sales pitches into services that offer to assess SOA readiness, govern SOA development and manage SOA implementations.

"The dirty little secret of SOA is that it doesn't require buying a lot of new software. SOA is architecture, and SOA is hard. It's not a one-off software project," says Ron Schmelzer, a senior analyst with ZapThink.

The buzz comes from companies such as BEA Systems, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Siebel and Sun, which have spent the last year rolling out SOA services and establishing resource centers that are designed to help enterprises get on the path toward SOA. These vendors also provide technology components that could become part of a larger SOA such as application servers, middleware software, integration platforms, ESBs, Web services and application development tools.

The services option

For example, last spring IBM unveiled services for planning, designing, implementing and managing SOA. HP in June launched SOA consulting services and opened four SOA competency centers aimed at helping business customers with everything from envisioning their SOA to rolling out and running it. BEA in May designed SOA services for government and public sector companies, and began offering an online assessment tool for measuring an organization's plans against a given methodology. The tool, called BEA Service-Oriented Architecture Readiness Self-Assessment, reports on results and recommends pricing.