29. How does service-oriented architecture (SOA) help companies become more agile?
Answer: C
Service-oriented architecture (SOA) aligns business needs with management information system capabilities.
By aligning business needs with the capabilities of management information systems, service-oriented architecture (SOA) enables companies to respond more swiftly to changing market demands and customer requirements, thus fostering greater agility.
A) Breaks the project into four phases to provide quicker feedback and improve results
This option does not accurately describe SOA. While breaking projects into phases can enhance feedback loops, SOA's primary focus is on the alignment between business needs and system capabilities rather than a specific project methodology.
B) Builds a working model of the system on a small scale to detect errors early in development
Although building a small-scale model to detect errors early can contribute to agility, this practice is more closely related to prototyping or iterative development rather than the core principles of SOA, which emphasizes service alignment and integration.
C) Aligns business needs and the management information system capabilities that support these needs
This is the essence of how SOA enhances agility. By ensuring that the capabilities of management information systems are directly aligned with the evolving business needs, SOA allows companies to adapt quickly to changes and innovate effectively.
D) Requires a tight adherence to a sequence of steps to accomplish the original goal
This option suggests a rigid structure that is contrary to the flexibility that SOA aims to provide. SOA promotes adaptability and responsiveness rather than strict adherence to a linear process, which can hinder agility.
Conclusion
Option C is definitively correct as it encapsulates the fundamental aspect of SOA, which is the alignment of business needs with system capabilities, promoting agility. The other options either misrepresent SOA's principles or focus on methodologies that do not specifically enhance agility in the context of service-oriented architecture.