Accenture plans to invest $450 million over the next three years to accelerate the growth of its service-oriented architecture (SOA) capabilities.

The effort, aimed at helping companies realize the full benefits of service-oriented architecture, includes a new R&D lab, a blueprint for SOA implementation, and expanding Accenture's portfolio of cross-industry offerings.

The goal of the new lab, the Accenture Technology Lab for SOA Innovation, is to accelerate the development of SOA applications customized for specific industries, including healthcare and financial services. The lab's innovations - including new tools and methods - will help reshape legacy computer systems into applications that deliver the full benefits of a service-oriented architecture. The lab will be a joint effort between all four of Accenture's research and development facilities, which are located in Chicago, Palo Alto (Calif.), sophia Antipolis (France) and Bangalore (India).

Accenture has also developed a blueprint for SOA implementation, comprising a scale that divides implementation into four levels. Accenture believes that most SOA initiatives today fall into the first two levels. Maturation begins in the third level, with full benefits realized in level four. The lab will contribute to the development of level-four applications.

"We are developing level-four SOA applications and will use the knowledge gained to improve our methods, processes and tools to help our clients," said Don Rippert, Accenture's chief technology officer. "Of course, fundamental computing architectures don't change overnight. The tipping point in SOA's evolution will arrive when it allows companies to build solutions assembled from reusable modules."

"In our work on more than 250 SOA-related engagements with clients, we take a pragmatic approach to SOA as a business problem, not just a technology issue," said David Nichols, an executive partner and the global SOA lead in Accenture's Technology & Delivery group. "That's one reason why our new lab is focusing on real, industry-specific applications. The lab's findings will add to Accenture's delivery assets and service offerings, forming the foundation for our SOA capabilities."

Other elements of Accenture's SOA initiative include the Experimental Software Environment. It will be used as a test bed in the Accenture Technology Lab for SOA Innovation, running experiments on SOA and software and comparing open source and commercial development.

"The initiative announced today consolidates the aggressive SOA strategy Accenture has long been pursuing," said Rippert. "We look forwarding to bringing our industry knowledge to bear on SOA and sharing the results with our clients."

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Prashanth Rai