Part 5 of this book provides two case studies in service orientation.

In chapter 14, Sam Higgins and Paul McRae describe how Queensland Transport has developed a service-oriented approach that reflects service orientation as the business phenomenon described in this book. In particular, they look at how the approach is used to allow third-party software developers to integrate Queensland Transport regulatory processes seamlessly within commercial motor vehicle dealer business processes. The results are impressive. For example, the organization can now execute a service-based transaction at an activity-based cost of less than A$1.5 compared with the more traditional face-to-face approach which costs between A$4 and A$10. The department now collects over A$260 million (or 12%) of its total revenue using an SOA, with no direct customer contact. Services are available 23.5 hours per day, 6.5 days per week, and 80% of all services respond in less than 2 seconds.

In chapter 15, Hermann Schlamann describes how Credit Suisse has evolved from an organization encumbered by a large and complex legacy software portfolio to one which can now use significant parts of its legacy systems for business value. The organization has worked hard to rationalize these legacy systems into sets of reusable services that are aligned with business objectives. Again, the results are impressive. For example, money transfers for a customer are now enabled over different channels: via the internet with “online banking”, via a “teller terminal” in a branch, or via “personal contact” at a branch counter.