Of the 100 finance, manufacturing and retail IT directors in the sample, those in finance emerged as the trailblazers for the technology, with 15% claiming to have already fully deployed SOA in their organizations.

Retail firms were less gung-ho in their attitude to SOA. No retailer surveyed had fully implemented the technology, and 57% of the retail respondents only put SOA fifth on their list of spending priorities.

Jim Close, Software AG country manager and senior VP, said the survey was proof that SOA has shed its fad status. "More companies realize the long-term value in updating and extending existing and proven mission-critical systems, rather than ripping out and replacing with new solutions," he said.