An analyst lauded SoaML for not being too centered on Web services, which has sometimes been considered synonymous with SOA.

"While it would be more accurate to call this a service modeling and design language (because SOA modeling language doesn't have particular meaning), it is good that they are not overly committing their language to Web services," said Ron Schmelzer, senior analyst at ZapThink. "I think by now, we all realize that SOA and Web services are not at all the same thing. In this regard, I think the specification will be another step in the path to helping companies realize the important of modeling their architecture separate from modeling the underlying technology."

Among the list of submitters of the SoaML proposal were IBM, HP and Fujitsu. The specification was developed in response to the UML Profile and Metamodel for Services RFP. UML 2.0 serves as a basis for the SoaML metamodel.