In preparation for attending a conference, I noticed a session called "SOA: Hype or Happening?" Even though the session did not advertise more probing and intriguing questions, I opted to attend that session, though I thought a better concept would be "A Checkpoint on the Progress of the SOA Platform."

In my mind's eye, I see service-oriented architecture (SOA) in the real world as having more to do with discussions revolving around these questions: