"To successfully embrace SOA, the CIO role can be one of the most important transformation agents," says the Red Room's Richard Ward. "The CIO though will require some key qualities, including being a visionary, being strategic and being viewed as strategic by the organisation’s leadership team, and lastly being an excellent communicator and in doing so have the ability to sell technology requirements to the business. Without this executive agent in place, SOA initiatives face a high probability of failure."