Mahesh Sharma | August 05, 2008
WOOLWORTHS is about to introduce its service-oriented architecture across the business after several months of intense testing.
The first phase of deployment would be in the next two months, Woolworths integration competency centre manager Walter DeWildt said.The retail giant is using Software AG's Centrasite SOA platform, after testing it across a number of business units for several months.
Mr DeWildt would not say when the rollout would be complete, but it is expected to take 12 to 18 months.
Woolworths' SOA initiative had been driven from board level, he said.
"We've just started a large SOA initiative and that was undertaken from the top down," Mr DeWildt said.
"Business right up to board level saw the need for us to improve our processes, our IT processes, our business processes.
"We needed to do something about services and process management, so it was a management buy-in that that enabled us to go down the business process and services road."
To get the attention of the board, the IT department had to convince the chief executive there was a real business need for the new technology.
"There were a number of things in IT that we worked on," Mr DeWildt said.
"One of the things we felt we could drive into the business was SOA. We did a lot of research, looking around the industry at what the big players were doing.
"We got some advice from different places and formulated our corporate IT strategy.
"That strategy then went up to the board through our chief executive."
As the board warmed to the new technology, IT teams were invited to explain precisely where they could deliver efficiencies.
"We had IT people going up and educating them on what the industry was doing and getting the buy-in from the board.
"They really came on board and said they could see the value and the benefits."
The board's view was that great technology was all well and good, "but how was it going to reduce costs in the business and get initiatives to market faster".
"Those were the big selling points for SOA - building it up from parts into a bigger solution."
With the recognition of the need for an SOA platform coming from the top of the business, the IT department has been able to build a system from the ground up in harmony with the various business units.
"In the middle layer, some of the business leaders from the different departments have taken a leading role in coming on board and understanding what IT can do with processes.
"Our approach is to build up the framework and start to show in little pockets what can be done, and I'm sure they'll start to see some of the results. We're waiting for the floodgates to open."