ISO/IEC 17998:2012 describes a framework that provides context and definitions to enable organizations to understand and deploy service-oriented architecture (SOA) governance.

ISO/IEC 17998:2012 defines:

• SOA Governance, including its relationship between Business, IT, and EA governance; this assists organizations in understanding the impact that the introduction of SOA into an organization has on governance;
• an SOA Governance Reference Model (SGRM) and its constituent parts, which assists organizations in specifying their appropriate governance regimes; and capturing best practice as a basis for a common approach;
• the SOA Governance Vitality Method (SGVM) which assists organizations in customizing the SGRM and realizing their SOA Governance Regimen.

ISO/IEC 17998:2012 is not intended to be used as provided; it is intended to be customized to create appropriate SOA governance for the organization. Many of the lists are non-normative and exemplary and intended to be filtered and as input to the customization process.

ISO/IEC 17998:2012 does not include an explanation of the fundamentals and value of SOA, which is important for being able to understand and apply SOA governance. It lists some of the many other specifications and books that are available on SOA basics.