SOA Link will not publish a specific API (application programming interface) to provide interoperability. Instead, member companies are promising to deliver interoperable solutions to their customers.

A number of members announced or planned support for Infravio's X-Registry Platform SOA registry repository as part of the announcement.

SOA Link and other recent developments are evidence that SOA is moving beyond the "hype" stage, said Ron Schmelzer, an analyst at Zapthink, which sells research to SOA firms.

"SOA's not hype. SOA and Web services are moving beyond the 'connect things together' stage. We're at a point where it's becoming a part of the mainstream," Schmelzer said.

"That's a bit less sexy, because you're getting down to brass tacks: implementation details, not the big news stories," Schmelzer said.