Computerworld UK — More than half of UK businesses do not understand service oriented architecture, or do not have a strategy in place to implement it, according to SAP users.

That is the verdict of a new survey by the SAP UK & Ireland User Group, and the SAP User Group Executive Network. It said British businesses were far behind other countries in SOA adoption. Globally, one third of organisations said they were using SOA, but only 13 percent of UK firms are.

Alan Bowling, chairman at the SAP UK & Ireland User Group, expressed surprise at the lack of take-up of SOA in the UK, describing SOA as a crucial direction in future application development.

“SOA stands to make the life of a [chief information officer] easier, however it is clear many UK organisations either don’t understand it or are unsure how to implement it,” he said.

He said it is important that SOA “is well managed and governed otherwise organisations will find that their applications and services turn into a tangled web resembling Spaghetti Junction.”

The user group will have a dedicated stream on SOA at its annual conference, taking place in London on 10 and 11 November 2008.

SAP user groups have been expressing anger in recent months over price hikes and maintenance service changes introduced by the vendor.