Uncertainty about the economy is causing many IT executives to reevaluate current and new initiatives. Investments may be delayed unless they either will result in tangible and rapid cost savings or are critical to the viability of the business. These are the primary factors why many organizations are deciding to continue their service-oriented architecture (SOA) initiatives.

The challenge for IT executives is to determine how to support these SOA environments so that their organizations can actually realize the expected benefits. How do you ensure the underlying infrastructure is capable of supporting the dynamic nature of an SOA? Justifying new investments in products and services is especially challenging when there is such a significant and widespread focus on controlling spending and cutting back wherever possible.

This white paper defines the challenges facing today's IT executives and steps you can take now to support your organization’s SOA-based initiatives by cutting costs, leveraging your existing IT infrastructure and improving productivity. We also share how other organizations have achieved an incremental return on investment (ROI) through progressive adoption and how they have improved the success of SOA initiatives by focusing on enhancing their IT infrastructure and operations.