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                   SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 4, 2006 – The Open Group, a vendor- and technology-neutral  consortium focused on open standards and global interoperability within and  between enterprises, today announced the creation of The SOA Governance  Project, an effort that will investigate how enterprises can better control and  facilitate the development of a service-oriented architecture (SOA).  Driven by members of The Open Group’s  recently formed SOA Working Group, the new initiative will create a reference  framework for SOA governance that can be used by organizations as they manage  both new and ongoing SOA initiatives.   
                  Key objectives of the project  include: 
                  
                    - the development of a standard definition of SOA  governance (and distinguishing it from traditional IT governance);
 
                    - the creation of reusable processes and models  that enterprises can take advantage of to maintain greater consistency and  control in their SOA projects; and 
 
                    - the development of a common language that can be  used by enterprise architecture practitioners for communicating on SOA  governance - both internally and with suppliers of SOA governance tools.     
 
                   
                  “While the successful deployment of  SOA requires a high degree of control, the application of governance within  this increasingly popular architectural style is often poorly understood,” said  Dr. Chris Harding, forum director for SOA and semantic interoperability at The  Open Group.  “In building a reference  framework for SOA governance, the SOA Working Group hopes to help organizations  reduce risks in undertaking SOA projects, optimize the benefits realized by  deployments and facilitate broader SOA adoption overall.”  
                  The SOA Governance Project will be  supported by contributing members of The Open Group, including industry-leading  technology companies and consultants such as BEA Systems, Inc.; Capgemini; HP;  and IBM.  
                   
                  The mission of The Open Group SOA Working Group is to  develop and foster common understanding of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)  in order to facilitate alignment between the business and information  technology communities. It does this by conducting a work program to produce  definitions, analyses, recommendations, reference models, and standards to  assist business and information technology professionals within and outside of  The Open Group to understand and adopt SOA. Further information about the SOA  Working Group can be found at http://www.opengroup.org/projects/soa/. 
                   
                    The Open Group is a vendor-neutral and technology-neutral  consortium, which drives the creation of Boundaryless Information Flow™ that  will enable access to integrated information within and between enterprises  based on open standards and global interoperability. The Open Group works with  customers, suppliers, consortia and other standard bodies. Its role is to  capture, understand and address current and emerging requirements, establish  policies and share best practices; to facilitate interoperability, develop  consensus, and evolve and integrate specifications and open source  technologies; to offer a comprehensive set of services to enhance the  operational efficiency of consortia; and to operate the industry’s premier  certification service. Further information on The Open Group can be found at http://www.opengroup.org.                   
                  Note to editors :  Boundaryless Information Flow is a trademark of The Open Group.                   
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