SOA has not failed, Adobe's Enterprise Software successes

Recently I have seen more than a few people jump on the "SOA has failed" bandwagon. My perception is different. I have actually seen many platforms that adopted the core principles of SOA, as defined by the OASIS Reference Model for SOA, flourish and owners reap large rewards.

Adobe's own platforms are a primary example of this. Having recently written about the differences in patterns of SOA vs REST within the Flash Platform, I now feel compelled to point out that SOA is far from dead. In fact, I received an internal email today within Adobe that clarifies this point. The email outlined the percentages of the top companies that are using Adobe LiveCycle ES or other Adobe enterprise software. This was published in last week’s Adobe internal business intelligence website and while I cannot divulge the raw data sources, I believe this to be accurate.

Fact: Over 27,000 Companies use Adobe Enterprise products (Connect, Flash Builder, LiveCycle).

Fact: These products embrace the concept of services to enable consumers to gain access to blocks of functionality encapsulated within the software. Acrobat Connect is even deployed using the Software as a Service (SaaS) model.

All Industries
22 of the top 25 global companies, as measured by Forbes, use Adobe Enterprise products.
23 of the top 25 U.S. companies, as measured by Fortune, use Adobe Enterprise products.
23 of the top 25 European companies, as measured by Forbes, use Adobe Enterprise products.

Banking Industry
7 of the top 10 global Banks use Adobe to deliver better customer experiences.
16 of the top 20 U.S. Banks use Adobe to deliver better customer experiences.
23 of the top 25 global Banking companies, as measured by Forbes, use Adobe Enterprise products.
20 of the top 20 U.S. Banking companies, as measured by Fortune, use Adobe Enterprise products.
10 of the top 10 European Banking companies, as measured by Forbes, use Adobe Enterprise products.

Insurance Industry
24 of the top 25 global Insurance companies, as measured by Forbes, use Adobe Enterprise products.
7 of the top 10 U.S. Insurance companies, as measured by Fortune, use Adobe Enterprise products.

This does not sound like SOA is failing to me. In fact, far from it. Services will be around for a long time in the future. Why? The concept of services is durable. It will be relevant over many generations of the same technology and it will also be a form of architecture practiced in new technologies.

One of my friends recently stated that "SOA is dead" then followed it up with "long live services". This caused my brain to spin a bit. If an architecture has services, wouldn't that make the architecture ipso facto service oriented? Perhaps I missed something?

If you are new to LiveCycle ES and want to get up to speed, do not overlook the benefits of coming to Adobe MAX 2010. Be warned however that space is filling up fast.

Final synopsis: SOA is not dead. Services will continue to be the dominant action boundary between capabilities and consumers of those capabilities who may be from disparate domains of ownership.

Long live SOA!!!