As a consultant at both project and strategy levels I'm finding that a lot of real work needs to be done to get SOAs up-and-running. For most organisations, the first step of their SOA project is to figure out how much this SOA will cost. Only then can you can budget appropriately and obtain the funding.
It’s a good first step, but most organisations that want to build an SOA don't have a clue how to approach the cost estimation process. In many cases, they grossly underestimate the cost of their SOA, hoping their bosses and accountants won't notice later. In other words, go in low to get the approval, and reveal the higher costs later after it's too late...the investment has been made. Not a good management practice, if you ask me, but a pretty common one.
