Dont's for SOA

• Don't boil the ocean. Make sure the SOA project you choose for your starting point is well defined and well confined. Prove SOA successful with something that is small, is achievable in a short time, and will have a significant impact — then build incrementally.
  
• Don't confuse SOA with an IT initiative. SOA must be a joint endeavor between business and IT. You have everything to gain — and everything to lose if you persist in such pigheadedness.
• Don't go it alone. An entire industry is just waiting out there to help you. Don’t ignore it. Beg, borrow, steal, but get help. Reinventing the world is definitely anti-SOA thinking.
• Don't think you are special. Stick to standards and standard interfaces. The proprietary software you build will be your own downfall. The sooner you part ways from evil temptations, the happier and healthier your software can be. (The happier and healthier your organization will be too, by the way.)
• Don't neglect governance. SOA governance won’t happen by itself. Address it early. SOA governance is as much about the way you work and the processes you put in place to create a SOA environment as it is about any technology issues. So, don’t just go and buy a bucket full of tools labeled SOA governance. SOA governance is about leadership and thinking through how you are going to get from where you are today to a well-coordinated approach that conforms to your corporate goals and objectives.
• Don't forget about security. In this brand new world of mixing and matching, it’s easy to get caught up in the euphoria and forget about the nitty-gritty. Pay close attention to the security implications of exposing business services.
• Don't apply SOA to everything. SOA makes a lot of sense for a lot of things, but not for everything. If you have an application that is so specialized that it is isolated from other aspects of the business and works just fine, leave it alone. At the same time, when you find the software that is appropriate for SOA, you need to prioritize, scrutinize, and make sure you’re looking at the right level of granularity.
• Don't start from scratch. Chances are, one of the SOA vendors has some sort of blueprint for a company just like yours. Take advantage of work already done. Look for a blueprint or model based on your industry first, such as insurance or financial services or banking — many already exist and more are being created every day.
• Don't postpone SOA. SOA is a long journey. The sooner you begin, the sooner you’ll get somewhere.