Service oriented architecture (SOA) is an important enabler in the dynamic and on-demand IT and business environment. This report series, SOA: The Services Opportunity, examines the most pertinent topics to help service providers enhance their services portfolio and guide their strategic direction in the rapidly evolving SOA market. IDC's research also helps service firms identify new opportunities and new business models for SOA service delivery, both in the United States and other parts of the world. Subscribers to this service receive direct access to IDC's top industry experts, who can supply competitive analysis and positioning advice, identify strategic partnering opportunities, assist with speaking to the investment community, provide press quotes, and more.

This service covers the following segments for the United States and major worldwide regions:

• SOA service offerings

Throughout the year, this service will address the following topics:

• The competitive landscape of the SOA service markets, including profiles of service firms delivering SOA engagements
• Case studies of major SOA initiatives to especially examine the organizational, cultural, and people challenges (IDC discusses major lessons learned from these case studies along with recommendations to both service vendors and end users.)
• SOA services spending forecasts by IDC foundation services and by macroregions (Americas, EMEA, and Asia/Pacific)
• End-user survey describing adoption trends, spending intentions, market drivers and inhibitors, and technologies involved in SOA engagements

Our research addresses the following issues that are critical to your success:

1. What are the new and emerging market trends with respect to SOA service offerings on a global and national basis?
2. What strategies are service firms adopting, and how are they adjusting their services portfolio to respond to new market needs in regard to SOA?
3. What are the key competitive differentiators among service vendors in becoming a leader in the SOA marketplace?
4. Which service firms can best leverage the increasing market demand for SOA?
5. What are the size of and the growth rates for the SOA markets both globally and nationally?
6. What are some of the best practices and leading-edge tools and methodologies used by service vendors in delivering SOA service offerings?
7. What role does a partner ecosystem play among service firms in competing in the SOA market?
8. How does SOA serve as an enabler in outsourcing services (i.e., application outsourcing and business process outsourcing) and software support services engagements?

IDC's SOA: The Services Opportunity research examines how providers are positioning themselves to compete in the market and reviews the strategies, market positioning, and future direction of several providers, including:

Accenture, ACS, Atos Origin, Avanade, Bain & Company, BEA Systems, BearingPoint, Capgemini, CGI Group, Cognizant, CSC, Deloitte, Dimension Data, EDS, Fujitsu, HCL, Hitachi Consulting, HP, IBM Global Services, Infosys, Intel, Keane, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, MomentumSI, Northrop Grumman, Novell, Oracle Consulting, Perot Systems, SAIC, SAP, Sapient, Satyam, Siemens Business Services, Sun Microsystems, Tata Consultancy Services, Unisys, and Wipro.

This service focuses on the following core research. In addition to the insight provided in this service, IDC may conduct additional research on specific topics, or emerging market segments, via research offerings that require additional IDC funding and client investment.

This study analyzes SOA services spending by geography, engagement type, vertical industry, and company size. It also includes assumptions, accelerators, inhibitors, predictions, and recommendations.

These case studies focus on the major lessons learned when an SOA project is implemented from a services perspective. They also highlight best practices in implementing SOA and how service vendors can help clients achieve the greatest success in their SOA journeys.

IDC offers a complete market intelligence solution customized to meet your business requirements. The array of products and services available to you includes:

• The opportunity to have your specific questions answered through personal interaction with industry experts who cover the topics and markets in your service
• Around-the-clock access to our market intelligence on idc.com, IDC's personalized Web experience
• A view of the market's future with 12 months of continuous intelligence about its direction and the reasons behind it, along with actionable advice for taking advantage of existing and emerging opportunities
• Special client discount pricing on purchases of research from other services
• Complimentary admission to IDC's annual Directions conference, where you'll hear our latest forecasts and network with IDC analysts and other industry professionals
• Complimentary invitations to monthly executive telebriefings, interactive forums designed to provide you with insights about research and strategies directly from IDC analysts

To find out how our flexible packaging options can meet your specific business needs, please contact your IDC sales executive.

As a privately held company, IDC believes that our customers are our primary constituency. A large percentage of every revenue dollar is reinvested back into our products, including more analysts, more geographic coverage, and extensive primary research.

Our steady growth over the past 10-plus years reflects our commitment to investing in our customers.