SOA and a conductor

I saw a conductor today on the very good and informative channel mezzo. He just showed the orchestra in short moves how to play a very complex piece.

I started to think about a word in the SOA realm. Orchestration.

Orchestration.

The conducter of a choir or an ensemble only shows the path to what there is to come. It relies on the fact that every single intstrumentalist knows what to do. And the pace is the key to success. The SAME PACE. The value in time of the notes have to be coordinated.

The pitch have to be coordinated, and the instrumentalists tune in before the piece starts. They even tend to tune in their instruments during the concert in some intermission or between parts in a mass, or a symphony.

Compare that situation with a software business installment with different web services, different platforms and different hardware. Trying to interact.

I mean, hey! Come on! It puts demands on the internal affairs of a business. The internal processes have to be defined before you can outsource anything, before you can web-servicify any part of any application.

In order to play the symphony every single part, every single trombone player, every single bass player and the little tiny flute has to be in synch. Has to agree on the tempo, on the pitch.

This is the case in software engineering too. You have to decide upon a standard platform, a common way of working and a culture that encourage knowledge exchange.