Your view about ‘the lack of solid architectural and engineering practices’ is absolutely right as regards SOA, and I would argue IT generally.

I think it is fair to say that many IT people, never mind the business, are confused by all the different acronyms, conference topics and marketing initiatives that are around.

Recently I read on IT Insider that, in the USA at least, it has reached the stage where:

“…Companies hire SOA consultants, sue SOA consultants for being over-priced and over-promised, and now both companies have to hire SOA consultants to define SOA in court…”

I thought it might be worth going back to basics, so I’ve made an attempt with my blog post “Understanding SOA”

http://www.keystonesandrivets.com/kar/2008/04/understanding-s.html

to explain simply how SOA works, how it can be used and, with the use of a real-world example (not involving my company), describe why a properly planned and implemented Service Oriented Architecture can create a flexible way of aligning business and IT.

But you may agree that some people are not in favour of such ’simplification’.

Your feedback is very welcome.