SOA cuts IT budget by half

SOA's first proving ground is integration and consolidation, especially within large, diverse operations. Verizon Communications claims it averages about 2.5 million to three million Web services transactions a day through a "home-grown" service-oriented architecture. 

In a new ComputerWorld article, the company says its SOA, which it calls IT Workbench, is built on XML and SOAP messaging. The system went operational in 2004 and Verizon says it has slashed its IT budget by 50% by eliminating redundant systems inherited from the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE.

The SOA also helped integrate the operations of some 7,000 developers.  Verizon's SOA covers about 250 services, and the company says it plans to eventually support 33 million Web services transactions per year.