"Certainly, a solid understanding of XML is critical," he said.

XQuery also is crucial, he said. "XQuery is to XML what SQL is to relational databases, so we need to become fluent in XQuery."

ESBs, while designed to integrate services and enable stateless orchestration, are less suited for handling long-running, stateful processes, Davies said. He recommended BEA's own WebLogic Integration for dealing with these sorts of processes.

The ESB is the logical place to begin managing and publishing services, he said.

Formation of a governance team for SOA also is vital, according to Davies. "SOA is not about technology alone," he said.