As both service orientation and Enterprise Architecture are current themes that JISC considers to be strategically valuable, I thought the recent article from ZapThink on the topic “SOA and TOGAF: A Good Fit?” is very timely.

To whet your appetite, their conclusion includes:

“How would you decide whether to use TOGAF ADM or not for your SOA initiative? If you have already adopted a SOA approach, and its working for you, then the ADM won’t necessarily add value for you in the short term. However it won’t do any harm to evaluate your approach against the ADM. You may find some valuable lessons to be learned from TOGAF. However, if you haven’t yet adopted a SOA approach, or if you are experiencing problems with your approach, then the ADM is certainly worth considering.”

Both service-orientation and architecture are explored in “Technology Change in Higher and Further Education – a service oriented approach“, where members of CETIS and guest authors present their “takes” in the context of Higher and Further Education. This work includes many other references to work supported by JISC and various perspectives from people whose thinking we think is important.