SOA is just an enabler

Enablers are things that realize the potential of something else. That something use the enabler as a foundation for its own success. An enabler is by it self not worth too much.

Drivers are things that see the potential in other things. A driver can be something that makes use of that other thing, and makes it interesting.

When a driver and an enabler come into a direct relationship, you got a strong pair. Let's take XML and Web Service for example. XML is an enabler for Web Services and Web Services is the biggest driver for XML. XML and Web Services is a strong pair.

Another example is SOA. SOA without Web Services is not an option in this millennium and what would Web Services be without a good organized and managed SOA?

So why are we building an SOA? What drives an SOA? Lot's of things, but the most obvious one is Business Process Management (BPM). BPM is a good driver for SOA where services are used to build up end-to-end process implementations. One could argue if BPM has a value without enabled by a SOA, and I strongly agree. A BPM should be leveraging a SOA.

Building cross-functional process implementations is interesting for a couple reasons like, visibility, agility, etc. But the one with most business value is Performance Management (CPM). CPM will definitely be enabled by BPM since process implementations are fastest way to produce accurate performance values on demand.