A methodical framework for service oriented architecture adoption: Guidelines, building blocks, and method fragments

Context: Rapidly-changing business requirements expect high business process flexibility that can be achieved using service oriented architecture (SOA). This requires enterprises to adopt SOA and assess their SOA adoption maturity to achieve continuous improvement. SOA realization demands service development with varying levels of granularity. Objectives: The research aims to develop a methodical framework for SOA realization based on Welke's SOA maturity model, a model that assumes a methodology dimension. The framework is concerned with formalizing knowledge on how to identify and shape the main building blocks of a method at each maturity level. Methods: The research applies the principles of design science research and method engineering to develop a methodical framework for SOA realization. Results: The research identifies the gaps in SOA realization methods and illustrates how a methodical framework based on a maturity model facilitates the SOA adoption process. The evaluation results revealed that the framework would help enterprises to select method fragments required at each maturity level to accomplish business excellence. Conclusion: The implications of this research are twofold: from a theoretical perspective, the researchers or practitioners can use the results for further study. From a practical standpoint, enterprises can use the methodical guidelines to assess their current maturity level and select and implement the required method fragments from the method base provided in the proposed framework.