Service Oriented Architecture Field Guide for Executives

10.3. SKILLS BY ROLE

SOA calls for new roles. That does not mean that new people have to be hired to fill these roles. Existing employees who already play a similar role will need to morph themselves into these new roles. For example, a software developer will most likely become an SOA developer and a traditional software tester will be asked to test SOA software.

Now, we will have a more detailed look at the responsibilities of each role and the skills these responsibilities demand.

SOA Leaders

Leaders need a gentle introduction to SOA and its value proposition. Usually, a one-hour session is sufficient for that. Leaders also need to learn about the potential risks of SOA and cases when SOA may not be the best choice. A degree of scepticism about SOA is a healthy attitude.

Business Process Managers

As discussed earlier, this group is made up of business operations managers and business analysts. The business managers need to learn about business process automation. They should have a clear understanding of how an automated business process functions. Next, they need to learn about how to develop a process all the way from fully manual to mostly automated. The managers will also need training on how to use the SOA vendor's tools to monitor the KPIs.

Business analysts need to know the BPM techniques in detail. They should be able to interview the business managers to learn about the current business process. They should model the business process using a software tool. Working ...