http://www.soamag.com The SOA Magazine is a monthly online publication provided by SOA Systems Inc. and Prentice Hall/PearsonPTR and is officially associated with the "Prentice Hall Service-Oriented Computing Series from Thomas Erl." SOA en-us Copyright 2006-2008, SOA Systems Inc. http://www.soamag.com/I19/0608-1.asp The United States Department of Defense (DoD) understands the value of information. While this understanding is very clear, it does not yet have a fully functional or satisfactory prescription for the strategic and technical ailments that pains its communities. Service-oriented architectures are not magic but the concepts, if applied with logic, leadership and continuity, make sense. Any mission or objective must be clearly defined with planning and the use of blueprints to build solutions that have meaning to those who will be served. There is disparity in data across domains within the DoD, but there are emerging ideas and technical strategies in development to address this issue. And SOA is a key part of this solution. (First published in The SOA Magazine Issue XIX, June 2008.) SOA http://www.soamag.com/contributors/bio-jtaylor2.asp#When:16.06.08