Service-Oriented Architecture Governance for the Services Driven Enterprise

10.16. "THAT GOVERNANCE IS BEST THAT GOVERNS BEST WITH LEAST"

The bottom line with any governance is to make sure it is right sized and targeted at a particular problem domain. Governance of any form can get heavy handed and over burdensome with time commitments imposed on those whose roles and responsibilities involve the implementation, management and enforcement of governance. To that end, the following quote is instructive: "That governance is best that governs best with least."

This quote is adapted from Henry Davis Thoreau's famous quote from the essay entitled "Resistance to Civil Government," also known as "Civil Disobedience," in 1849: "That government is best which governs least."

While this quote reflects Thoreau's displeasure with the federal government, his treatise more broadly reflected his thoughts on the role and rights of individuals in relation to civil government.

The following guidelines will help you implement this governance tenet as you design an effective SOA governance model for your organization. My version, "That governance is best that governs best with least," is a simple call to action to be careful of how you structure your SOA governance models in light of the fact that governance will be doomed to failure if it is too heavy handed or cumbersome.

• Focus. The best governance is appropriately focused on mission-critical problems rather than being all-encompassing and confusing. Maintain focus for your initial SOA governance efforts. Stay within the ...