Survey: services not shared, yet

We've just wrapped up the latest Web services/SOA development survey from Evans Data, and found some interesting contradictions in plans and perceptions around SOA.  There's no question that interest runs high in SOA these days -- a large majority of companies in the survey, 68%, say they have either adopted an SOA, or are in the process of developing an adoption plan for an SOA. But actual implementations are still few and far between -- only 18% could say they have some type of functioning SOA in place.

Web services are supposed to break open the "stovepipes" that restrict the flow of enterprise data, but these services are still stovepiped themselves. While one of the main value propositions of Web services -- and the premise of SOA -- is sharing services across an enterprise, the survey found that 55% of respondents do not extend their Web services beyond the department or business unit that built them.  Only six and a half percent report sharing Web services across more than 20 business units.

I was the principle author of the study, and will be sharing more details with you on the results over the coming weeks in this blogspace.