Documents/PGFSOA/1: Enterprise/4.1.6: Processes and Platforms

4.1.6: Processes and Platforms

Build Community Processes and Collaborative Platforms

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Many of the benefits of SOA are derived from sharing – sharing information, sharing business processes, sharing reference architectures, and sharing services. As a result, a mechanism must be put into place to enable the collaboration that is necessary to establish standards for sharing. One potentially effective mechanism for collaboration in the federal government is the Community of Interest (COI) model where participants from a particular domain (horizontal or vertical) come together with sufficient resources to establish the basis for sharing. The typical issues dealt with include semantics, standards for exchange, platforms, etc. To be successful, a COI must have a governance mechanism, sufficient funding, and portfolio management oversight, and must provide a collaborative environment for authorized users. The COI should also have defined operating processes, including a process for resolving conflicts and arriving at collaborative decisions. This process may include agreements based on consensus, a majority vote of the members, or other procedures that are agreed to by the members.

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