Background:

I am working for a medium sized business that has decided to replace
its three major systems during the next three years.   Our IT manager
has decided that a SOA architecture should be put in place along with
the replacement of these systems.

Workflow will be a component of at least two of the systems being
replaced.  There has been discussion about using BPEL compliant
workflow.

Currently, there is no SOA architecture in place.   All three systems
will be based upon packaged software.   The software tools for these
systems have not yet been identified (currently in vendor selection
process for two of them).

In total, about six different integration points between these three
systems have been identified.   Probably that number will double as
the requirements get further defined.

Our IT manager is very busy, therefore, when we have time with him I
want to have as much background covered as possible.  In addition, we
are going to begin meeting with potential vendors in the next few
weeks.  We want to be able to ask them pertinent questions about their
architecture.

Questions:
1. If a vendor does not have SOA in place, how difficult is it to
integrate them into a SOA architecture?   E.g. one vendor is J2EE
compliant and has extensive APIs, but is not SOA compliant.

2. Would it make sense to build SOA ?connectors? (don?t know the
correct term) around the 6-12 integration points vs. making the full
set of the tool?s capabilities SOA compliant?

3. With just 6 to 12 integration points, is putting a SOA architecture
in place worth it?  What is the break even point?  How can the cost
vs. benefit be determined?

4. What would you ask a vendor (outside of ?are you SOA compliant?) to
better understand how easy it would be to integrate them into a SOA
architecture?
5. Is BPEL standard workflow part of SOA?
6. What are the pros and cons of using workflow that is BPEL standard?