EMA Study Highlights Real-World Enterprise

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) Projects

New Report Provides First-Hand Perspective on What Is Required

to Roll Out SOA Services in 2006

BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Enterprise Management
Associates (EMA), the leading independent IT management research and
consulting firm, today announced key findings from the final study in
its three-part series on the service-oriented architecture (SOA)
marketplace. The research report, "SOA: A View from the Trenches,"
presents in-depth insight into how today's enterprises are using SOA
technology to solve real-world business problems. EMA is offering this
report for purchase, as well as free access to a number of other SOA
resources at www.emausa.com

To get a first-hand perspective on what is required to roll out SOA
services in 2006, EMA senior analyst Julie Craig conducted exhaustive
case studies with five end-user organizations that are early adopters
of SOA -- MedicAlert, Lockheed Martin, TrueCredit, Thomson Learning,
and a leading financial services organization. In the 30+ page report,
she profiles these real-world SOA projects in detail, covering issues
ranging from the business drivers for SOA to project implementation
specifics to issues and challenges encountered during the project.

"SOA is certainly a hot topic, but it is not without its share of
controversy. We hear stories of SOA projects that are going beyond
prototypes and conference room pilots to production deployments
capable of scaling to huge transactional numbers. However, at the same
time, articles appear in the trade press on a regular basis
questioning whether SOA lives up to the hype," said Craig. "Our
objective for this final study in our three-part SOA series was to
definitively answer the question 'Is SOA real?'"

In addition to the case studies, this 30+ page report offers a wealth
of information and advice about successfully implementing SOA in the
enterprise. Most notably, Craig summarizes the information shared by
the early adopters into EMA's six-step strategy for successful SOA
implementation and more than two-dozen key takeaways for organizations
embarking on a SOA project.

EMA is also providing a number of no-cost SOA resources to help
enterprise IT professionals understand and plan for this promising
technology.

EMA's SOA Solutions Center is a comprehensive online resource that
offers an introduction to SOA and its key concepts, as well as the
ability to search and compare objective profiles of more than 15 SOA
enterprise products side-by-side. Access to this valuable resource is
free of charge and available now. To register for the Solutions
Center, visit: http://itsolutions.emausa.com/register.php?ls=soaitscpr0906

EMA's Craig will be sharing highlights of the firm's third SOA study
in a free one-hour Webinar to be held on Tues., Oct. 10, 2006, at 1
p.m. EDT. To sign-up for the Webinar, visit:
http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=soa3pr0806&bs=soa30806

NOTE TO EDITORS

For more information, including an abstract of "SOA: A View from the
Trenches," contact Anita Wehnert at awehnert@enterprisemanagement.com
or Guy Murrel at gmurrel@catapultpr-ir.com at 303-581-7760 x17.

About Enterprise Management Associates

Founded in 1996, EMA is the only industry analyst and consulting firm
dedicated to issues of IT Management. The firm conducts comprehensive,
in-depth research and analysis on current and emerging concepts,
issues, trends, strategies and resources. EMA consults with enterprise
IT professionals to assess their organization's current IT management
infrastructure, skills, efficiency and effectiveness-making
recommendations to improve productivity, maximize ROI, improve service
quality and align IT operations with business strategy. In addition,
the firm's work with vendors and service providers gives it
significant influence in the marketplace, reaching nearly 300,000
people each month. For more information, visit
www.enterprisemanagement.com SOURCE Enterprise Management Associates