The (Lacking) Business Perspective on SOA - Critical Themes in SOA Research

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) has gained much popularity lately, in both practice and academia. Since SOA concepts and technology are maturing, companies have started to engage in larger projects that will fundamentally transform their IS landscapes over the next decade. While the continuously growing body of SOA research is mostly technology-oriented, there is a need to review the current state of SOA research in light of the strategic, organizational, and technical issues associated with SOA implementation in practice. This paper profiles SOA and Web services research since 2000 with a focus on SOA practices, adoption, and impact. Drawing on a sample of 175 papers in academic journals and conference proceedings, we classify the research themes and explore the most salient topics. Our analysis finds that SOA research is still at an early stage, thereby reflecting the novelty of the underlying technologies. We conclude that business aspects remain underserved, highlighting a number of research opportunities for the IS community.