[cagenut]

  > The expectation was to follow this ridiculously verbose chain of command 
  > whereby response to even a simple question could take days or even weeks.

oh so they already did SOA

[tabtab]

I can't get a clear meaning of "SOA". Data and processes have been shared for many decades. Stored procedures are a common example of such before the Web era. Shoving stuff into JSON doesn't necessarily make it better, and often creates more maintenance work. Do things for a clear reason, not because it's in style.