But at what point do “reusable assets” simply become a euphemism for standardized “software applications?”
IBM insists that its strategy to create reusable SOA components isn’t about getting back into application development. The
creation of reusable components is not the same as building applications, according to MacIntyre.
Instead, IBM is building “piece parts:” the pieces of business process that augment and complement large business applications,
MacIntyre says.
What’s the difference? For one thing, composite business services have to be highly customizable: hooked into existing data
flows, presentation layers, and the overall business process that companies have, MacIntyre says.
“If you look at an entire solution, not all of that may be in the form of composite business services or modules,” MacIntyre
says. In other words, there’s still a lot of customization based on the core solution. “We are not at the stage of the Ford
assembly line where you pick your parts and put them all together.”
On the other hand, IBM’s not necessarily at the at the pre-assembly line days where each car was handcrafted, MacIntyre adds.
Unlike the software application business, the business context in which the reusable asset is deployed is also likely to be
quite different from customer to customer, according to analysts.
“There are common business processes across many businesses from many different industries,” says IDC’s Hedin. “But there
are also business processes that are unique, and as you start going into the subprocesses, you may find more uniqueness.”
In addition to IBM, a number of vendors including Accenture, Capgemini, and Hewlett-Packard are working on preconfigured SOA
services in their labs. The consensus among all these companies is that some level of customization of the components will
always be required, Hedin adds.
And there’s still a fair amount of hand holding to get clients to accept a changed process and new way of doing things, Cherian
says.
Every reusable asset contains a prescription, a leading-edge practice about how a process should be done.
Often, delays in implementation reflect the difficulties of change management involved in getting the entire organization
to accept the changed process, not technology-related issues, Cherian says.
The SOA ecosystem
To make sure that the assets it invests in are relevant to as many customers as possible, IBM is backing its reusable components
with a larger governance model. The company, for example, has industry solutions boards, each addressing a specific industry
segment, which are made up of representatives from IBM’s consulting, research, software and systems groups, and covering all
the geographies.
“They are the ones who decide whether an asset is worth building, so it is a kind of check and balance that we are not building
an asset for a market of one,” Cherian says.
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