ZapThink's Bloomberg said that developers often find the cultural changes associated with a move to an SOA more taxing than the technology associated with the shift.

"To move to SOA requires organizational changes across IT and even into lines of business," he said. "Often, the developers have to work with people they may not have worked with much before."

As Cary, N.C.-based Railinc has taken on more SOA projects, the Association of American Railroads subsidiary has created training programs for both developers and recipients of the services to show the benefits of the technology.

Over the past two years, Railinc, which provides supply chain information to 460 railroads, has developed several external Web services for its clients -- including one that went into production in March to allow railroads to report rail-car repairs.

The latest initiative includes various project teams within IT and the lines of business that are creating reusable services for application development, said Garry Grandlienard, Railinc's IT director of enterprise architecture. The project is slated for completion by year's end.