This paper introduces the four stages of service oriented architecture (SOA) runtime governance.
The author argues that initially i.e. during the early stages of SOA adoption, SOA governance was focused on "pre-production" activities such as service design and deployment.
"Today, however, with SOA services now in production within many organizations, system architects are realizing that the most critical area for control and governance is now runtime. Data point after data point has demonstrated that many SOA implementations are just not working in production as designed or expected. Problems range from service interruptions to entire business processes failing and security and compliance risks that generate costly delays and lengthy triage cycles. As these problems continue to pile up, runtime governance is, not surprisingly, now taking center stage for companies launching and utilizing SOAs."