A framework for assessing enterprise-wide SOA implementation readiness

Many vendors have acclaimed Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) as a better way to design and build enterprise-wide information systems (EWIS). While these claims may be true in the private sector, there is scant evidence in the literature for the same success in the public sector. The adoption of Enterprise-wide SOA (ESOA) as the dominant development paradigm within an organization often requires significant organizational changes, which are difficult to achieve in the public sector, with its strict hierarchies and departmental independence. Although many government departments are beginning to adopt this new paradigm, the literature does not provide a suitable ESOA implementation readiness framework for use in the public sector. This research proposes a framework based on Critical Success Factors (CSFs) and a CSF scorecard to evaluate an organisation's ESOA implementation readiness. The framework and scorecard were tested in a test case in the Malaysian government, and the results validate the accuracy and usefulness of both the CSF Framework and the CSF Scorecard.