N is for Knowledge

It seems like most of the examples of companies that have implemented SOA are generally large, such as IKEA or a regional BlueCross BlueShield health Plan. I am wondering about small businesses and at what point does SOA make financial and/or operational sense to managers of these smaller companies? And what if they are in the growth stage and plan to increase size dramatically over the next 3-5 years? Do you wait to implement SOA until your business reaches a certain size or complexity, or is it more prudent to get out in front of the issue and implement SOA in advance of this projected growth?

I also have a quick rant on information driven organizations. Businesses would like to claim to be information driven and at some macro level that is true, but it is simply amazing to me how scarce data can be at the user level. I have worked at a few different companies and participated in 3 CCE projects and firms that you would know should have tons of information on their own internal operations or on their customers, are severely lacking. The might have enough to be directionally correct, but not very precise. One company I worked for has been in business for many, many years but because a significant portion of their data is trapped in some legacy system that doesn’t talk to the newer (last 20 years) system, they didn’t have access to this historical data. If fact, one IT person told me the company has over 1 billion lines of data on all its customers, but because of IT limitations, can only access a tiny fraction of that information. An in this case, information is a real, tangible competitive advantage because it empowers the company to more accurately forecast its product pricing.

In other news, I took my dog to the vet after class and she gained 16 pounds in one year! Her appearance, in veterinarian clinical terms, is abnormal. Hardly PC. I am just happy that she assumed responsibility for my grad school weight gain- what team player.