Service Oriented Architecture Field Guide for Executives

Chapter 7. CALCULATING SOA ROI

The search for technology return on investment (ROI) is an ongoing endeavor that seems to receive more or less attention depending on the success of the market and/or pressure from stockholders. Some measure of ROI is nearly always used as a justification for major technology investments within large enterprises. The veracity and level of detail for such measures, however, is suspect. Perhaps Albert Einstein said it best:

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. —Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Service oriented architecture (SOA) introduces some unique challenges in measuring ROI. SOA is an approach and a paradigm shift as much as it is a tangible technology set. Beyond XML standards for systems integration, service layering, and key infrastructure components, SOA is an agile architecture and a process-centric alignment between business and information technology (IT). All of this makes ROI calculation for SOA complex and potentially problematic. In spite of these obstacles, it is possible to construct a realistic ROI for SOA initiatives as long as you scope the project appropriately and use a service oriented ROI calculation model.