A practical look from a practitioner’s standpoint at the role and value of SOA Governance. This Resource includes looks into SOA Governance definition, objectives and components. From the Resource:

“As I delved into the world of SOA governance, I quickly realized that it was nothing new. Rather, it is simply a reorientation and formalization of many of the things good software architects have been doing all along. When you create software architecture, requirements exist that go beyond the immediate requests of the business users. Consistency, repeatability, testability, scalability, and manageability are built into good software architecture. SOA governance ensures that your SOA has them. Governance doesn’t have to be a bad word. In fact, you may already have some of the pieces in place for your SOA governance plan and not even know it. If you’ve spent any time designing software, you might have already solved some of the issues.”

Link to Resource: A Spoonful of Governance for SOA

Source: Steve Stefanovich, RDA Corporation

SOA Governance Resource Guide Section: SOA Governance Explored