As service-oriented architecture (SOA) becomes more of a reality and less of a buzzword, there will be greater demand and financial incentive for architects skilled in creating SOAs.

In addition to experience with integration technologies and Web services, SOA architects will need to have a strong understanding of the enterprise from a business perspective. Experts and enterprise managers said IT shops thinking of transitioning to SOA don't necessarily need to shell out big bucks for training, but rather get development teams thinking in terms of aligning services with the business.