IDC has a case study up on how Wipro Technologies assisted Midwest ISO in implementing a web services based SOA to enable this trading organization along with some other regional entities to manage the flow of electricity to millions of customers across a large territory in the United States and Canada to minimize congestion and power outage. You can get the document here.

There is a nice section in the document that summarizes the lessons learned:

Incremental approach. Although very comprehensive, this project represented an incremental approach that was much more acceptable to the client than starting with a full-blown deployment.
Clear value proposition. To gain acceptance and support from key Midwest ISO stakeholders and executive sponsors, Wipro had to define a very clear value proposition and develop a comprehensive SOA transition plan. To this end, Wipro performed a pilot and developed several prototypes to quickly demonstrate value and functionality.
Deep knowledge of the client. Without thorough knowledge and understanding of Midwest ISO's business goals and needs, including its organizational characteristics and requirements, Wipro would not have had the success in implementing this enterprisewide SOA project.
Shared endeavor. Involvement of both RTO entities has been encouraged from the very beginning of the project. For example, the identification and selection of which data exchanges to target for the SOA engagement have been a shared decision between Midwest ISO and PJM. In this way, each entity has been equally invested in the success of the project.
Governance structure. To manage the success of the rollout of the project, Wipro put an SOA governance structure in place to facilitate decision making among business and IT leaders, project managers, IT policy makers, and developers.
Executive sponsor and champion. The continued support of a strong and effective champion in a senior management position has proven to be essential in the success of this SOA engagement.
Communication and education. In every major SOA implementation that affects many individuals . such as in the Midwest ISO case . communication, followed by formal educational programs, is key. Before any implementation took place, Wipro spent many months communicating with key stakeholders and employees to inform them about the benefits of a Web services.based SOA architecture.
Sharing intellectual capital. In order to gain further benefits from this SOA initiative, Midwest ISO plans to extend its data exchange capacity to many other transmission organizations around the country.
Setting proper expectations. Early on in the project, it became evident that Midwest ISO's IT department needed to establish clear expectations to the operations or business side of the organization about the organizational and technological implications of this new initiative.
Importance of a strong project management team. A major undertaking, such as Midwest ISO's SOA implementation, always requires a skilled and fully dedicated project manager or project management team . consisting of experienced individuals from both the client's and vendor's organization.

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Prashanth Rai
Tag(s):SOA, Wipro