SOA consulting specialists ZapThink acquired by Dovel Technologies

Ron Schmelzer over at ZapThink just gave me the word this morning that his SOA-focused consulting practice has been acquired by Dovèl Technologies.

ZapThink has been very much in the forefront of the SOA and enterprise architecture movement since the early part of the 2000s decade -- I can't even count the number of workshops and seminars Ron and his co-founder, Jason Bloomberg, have conducted over the years. They also sponsor a certification program (Licensed ZapThink Architect -- LZA) , and also publish funky SOA wall posters with everything you need to know about service orienting.

The synergy with Dovèl ought to be interesting -- this is a consultancy that has built an SOA and IT management practice around federal government agencies, from the US Department of Defense to Securities and Exchange Commission.  We're definitely talking about "Big SOA" here.  ZapThink also has some big clients, but they have also addressed SMBs and more incremental SOA approaches in their work.

Ron pointed out to me that there's a lot the commercial sector can learn from the federal government, at least in terms of SOA. There's a much stronger commitment to SOA in the government, "which is moving at a far faster and more advanced pace than the private sector," he says. "A ton more stuff is going on in Defense, a range of agency activities, and all across the board from a federal, state, and local perspective."  Of course, ZapThink will also increase Dovèl's footprint in the private sector now as well.

ZapThink will continue as a wholly owned subsidiary of Dovèl Technologies. Ron and Jason will stay on as well.