Here's a tidbit for you trivia fans out there. Originally, the soundtrack for the “It's a Small World” Disneyland attraction included several national anthems all playing at once. But Walt Disney wanted one song, which was the impetus for what in short order would become one of those instantly recognizable tunes.

Fast forward about 40 years. Today, everyone in insurance IT wants all systems to sing one song and has started to hum the classic in a slightly updated version: “It's a SOA World.” And just as the lyrics say: “It's a world of laughter, a world of tears; it's a world of hopes, it's a world of fear.” Wouldn't you agree this could sum up the highs and lows of implementing a different approach to technology, such as SOA (for more, see the SOA special report, p. 22)?

Service-oriented architecture has been heavily hyped, but for a change, the reality seemingly backs the buzz. Maybe the reason for its success is SOA has been delivering business value and not merely infrastructure rationalization, which probably would put a gleam in the eye of only the tech guys. In addition, it works well whether for internal or external application–something for everyone . . . and something that also generates gobs of surveys.

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