The case for coordinated EDM and SOA

Article by Keith Worfolk in SOA World about the benefits of coordinated strategies for Enterprise Data Management and SOA.

Needless to say that a Data Services Platform should be the beating heart of these coordinated strategies.

I cannot agree more with the first best practice described by the author:
"...When thinking about services, don't forget to consider the data.
Systematically designing a service model is like designing a data model. For either, its impact should be considered long term, and the level of normalization of designed components, services, or data is considered a sign of quality and maturity.


Figure 6 shows service-data normalization from immature to mature organizations:

• "Wild West": Non-existent or ad hoc and uncoordinated normalization
  
• Ownership/Stewardship: Service designs built on data designs
  
• Encapsulation: Service and data designs coordinated in development/maintenance initiatives; either may drive the other as long as they are coordinated
  
• Object: One and the same service/data designs. Normalized designs are within EIA designs; service implementations take data ownership to another level where master data value is known only in service designs/implementations.
  

Most organizations pursuing services-data normalization have progressed to ownership/stewardship levels, yet need to reach encapsulation before realizing major benefits in efficiencies, maintenance costs, and asset business value.

The highest level of service-data normalization, object, may not make sense for some organizations, especially where master data or business services change frequently. Depending on their stability, the more possible an object level may be. However, cost/benefit analysis may make encapsulation preferred for some organizations.

Transitioning to advanced service-data normalization is a process of increasing organizational maturity toward coordinated EDM-SOA strategies..."