The Evans Data poll shows that this 40 percent figure represents more than twice as many developers as last year. Indeed, the Santa Cruz, Calif., company's latest survey also showed that more than 60 percent of all SOA projects now take only six months or less to complete. The results are part of Evans Data's new 2006 Web Services Development Survey, which the company will release on Dec. 22. Evans Data officials said the results indicate a growth in maturity of Web services and SOA technologies.

"We are now moving from the SOA pilot stage into full live deployments taking advantage of the reuse of frameworks and services thus driving the much improved productivity curve," said John Andrews, Evans Data's president, in a statement. "This adoption highlights the proven benefits that both the IT and line of business organizations achieve through their SOA efforts."