Book excerpt: Companies worldwide are rapidly adopting Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), a design methodology used to connect systems as services, and Business Process Management (BPM), the art of orchestrating these services. Media organizations from news organizations to music and media download services to movie studios are adapting to SOA-style architectures, but have run into roadblocks unique to the media and entertainment industry. These challenges include incorporating real-time data, moving large amounts of data at one time, non-linearity and flexibility for workflow, and unique metrics and data gathering. The Service-Oriented Media Enterprise details the challenges and presents solutions for media technology professionals. By addressing both the IT and media aspects, it helps individuals improve current enterprise technologies and operations.