SOA Software enhances SOA Consulting Practice; SOA Software adds new programs, consultants and executives, and adds to its roster of customers and resellers

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 17, 2006--SOA Software, the leading provider of comprehensive SOA and Web services management, security and governance solutions, today announced a series of enhancements to its existing SOA consulting practice. These enhancements include a new set of structured workshops, new executive management and continuing growth in its customer base.

SOA Software's SOA consulting practice is experiencing dramatic growth, fueled in part by the rapid adoption of SOA throughout the industry. SOA Software now has more than 50 customers in its SOA consulting practice.

"SOA Software's enhancements to its fast growing SOA consulting practice further validates the rapid expansion we are seeing in this market through our research," said Sophie Mayo, director of IDC's Worldwide Services, SOA: The Services Opportunity, and Emerging Technologies: The Services Opportunity programs. "One of the common themes IDC sees in large customers is a strong demand for education and implementation services for SOA."

Structured workshops provide a fast and efficient mechanism for customers to achieve a clear set of objectives with low, fixed costs. SOA Software's SOA consulting practice offers the following four new structured workshops designed to help customers quickly identify the value of a SOA:

-- SOA Readiness Assessment -- assess the customer's current state of, and readiness for SOA, and establish an SOA roadmap

-- Oracle SOA Readiness Assessment -- assess the current state of SOA adoption within an Oracle environment, and establish an SOA roadmap for Oracle technologies

-- SOA Business Case Analysis -- work closely with the customer to demonstrate the value of SOA in their environment and build a business-case

-- SOA Application Analysis -- work closely with the customer to identity which of their applications should form the basis of an SOA

Along with these structured workshops, SOA Software's SOA consulting practice is also offering tailored programs designed to allow customers to build the infrastructure they need for secure and reliable SOA and Web services. These programs leverage technology from SOA Software and other vendors to deliver comprehensive SOA infrastructure solutions encompassing:

-- SOA Management -- monitor and manage the reliability and performance of Web services in an SOA

-- SOA Security -- ensure the security of Web service providers and consuming applications in an SOA

-- SOA Governance -- leverage registry, management and security solutions to provide a comprehensive SOA governance fabric

-- Partner Integration with SOA -- deliver a secure trading partner management solution to facilitate rapid connection of partners to applications using secure SOA technology

Many companies are in the process of making, or have made strategic technology decisions about their chosen platform for building out a SOA. In many cases this decision moves a company towards an ESB platform. SOA Software's SOA consulting practice offers custom solutions to help customers rollout these technology platforms and deploy their first Service-Oriented Business Applications (SOBA). These solutions include:

-- BEA AquaLogic -- implement SOBA using BEA AquaLogic and WebLogic technologies.

-- IBM ESB -- implement SOBA using IBM WebSphere technologies

-- Microsoft .NET -- implement SOBA using the Microsoft .NET platform

-- Oracle Fusion Middleware -- implement SOBA using Oracle's Fusion Middleware platform

As part of the enhancements to its SOA consulting practice, SOA Software is pleased to announce the addition of two key executives leading the east and west coast businesses.

Leading the SOA consulting practice on the east coast is Didier Steven. Steven's leadership and consulting experience spans tenures at IBM, Gemini Consulting, Oracle Corporation, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and marchFIRST where he built enterprise systems for Fortune 500 companies. Steven holds a bachelor's degree in both financial management and classical French literature from Saint Joseph's University and a master's degree in information technology with an advanced certificate in international business from Seton Hall University.

Managing the west coast SOA consulting practice is Rob Hoertz. Hoertz's consulting excellence and leadership has been proven through more than 29 years of experience at BearingPoint, Oracle KPMG, Systemhouse and Unisys. He is certified by the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS) and holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Notre Dame.

"SOA Software's SOA consulting practice has grown significantly over the last four years," said Eric Pulier, chairman and founder of SOA Software and author of the recent book "Understanding Enterprise SOA." "This is a direct result of the expertise and dedication our team brings to every customer engagement. We are very pleased to announce the enhancements and growth of this practice, and are excited to be joined by such expert practitioners as Rob and Didier."

Availability and Pricing

SOA Software's SOA consulting practice has been operating for more than four years and workshops start at $3,000.

About SOA Software

SOA Software is the leading provider of comprehensive enterprise-class SOA management, security, and governance solutions. SOA Software's products include the award winning Service Manager(TM), Registry(TM), XML VPN(TM), and SOLA(TM). Service Manager provides a high-performance, scalable SOA Management solution. XML VPN makes it easy for companies to securely publish B2B Web services for their partners to consume. SOA Software's UDDIv3 compliant Registry is the first product to integrate service discovery with policy and performance management. And SOLA is the only production proven mainframe Web services solution for CICS programmers. These enterprise-class products combine to create the only complete SOA Infrastructure solution available today. SOA Software is a privately held company backed by leading investors including Redpoint, Mellon Ventures, Palisades Ventures Fund and Paladin Capital Group. For more information, please visit www.soa.com.

SOA Software and Service Manager are trademarks of SOA Software, Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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