HP, IBM extend SOA implementation

Archrivals IBM and Hewlett-Packard last week unveiled ambitious consulting-services programs and technical centers in moves to push their respective users closer to bringing SOA projects into production environments.

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Such moves are critical to making SOA implementation possible for enterprise IT, said Marianne Hedin, program manager for worldwide services and SOA at IDC. “They [HP and IBM] are addressing the business value of this new [SOA] paradigm,” she said.

HP, fresh from announcing its OpenView SOA Manager in early June, rolled out a suite of seven different services that take users from understanding basic SOA concepts and assessing their impact on their overall business, to helping them develop customized solutions. The suite’s seven services are the SOA Envisioning Service, Assessment Services, the Governance and Architecture Service, the Enablement Service, Service Development, Software Service Development, and the Management Service.

IBM countered with an initiative enabling business partners, application developers, and systems integrators to access IBM’s technical resources. This, in turn, will help bring to fruition proposed SOA-based projects in large and midsize IT shops.