ProCard* Goal: Wanted to recast its business, moving from provider of a monolithic credit card services application to service provider offering individual features that would easily integrate with other systems—including those of their competitors.* Risk: Selling pieces as services—particularly those seen as having competitive advantage—could have reduced ProCard’s chances for selling its entire suite. * Mitigation strategy: Using a service-oriented architecture (SOA) instead of a one-off connection to Visa allowed ProCard to shop the services to other potential customers more easily, possibly opening up new markets for the company.CompuCredit* Goal: Wanted to reduce the complexity and rigidity of its IT infrastructure to decrease costs and improve call center efficiency. * Risk: Needed to demonstrate value of SOA quickly to assure support from the business side.* Mitigation strategy: Found a pair of well-defined opportunities that were both high-value and quick-ROI, and would provide plainly visible metrics for success. 1-800-Flowers.com* Goal: Wanted to increase IT flexibility and scalability while eliminating silos in order to meet the needs of its rapidly growing business.* Risk: Desire by SOA purists to service-enable everything could have slowed development and prevented the business side from getting what it needed quickly enough. * Mitigation strategy: Architecture committees and development groups worked together to strike a balance between the flexibility of services and the needs of business. Related content feature 4 remedies to avoid cloud app migration headaches The compelling benefits of using proprietary cloud-native services come at a price: vendor lock-in. Here are ways CIOs can effectively plan without getting stuck. By Robert Mitchell Nov 29, 2023 9 mins CIO Managed Service Providers Managed IT Services case study Steps Gerresheimer takes to transform its IT CIO Zafer Nalbant explains what the medical packaging manufacturer does to modernize its IT through AI, automation, and hybrid cloud. By Jens Dose Nov 29, 2023 6 mins CIO SAP ServiceNow feature Per Scholas redefines IT hiring by diversifying the IT talent pipeline What started as a technology reclamation nonprofit has since transformed into a robust, tuition-free training program that seeks to redefine how companies fill tech skills gaps with rising talent. By Sarah K. White Nov 29, 2023 11 mins Diversity and Inclusion Hiring news Saudi Arabia will host the World Expo in 2030 in Riyadh By Andrea Benito Nov 28, 2023 3 mins CIO Artificial Intelligence Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe