As SOA grew up it developed a penchant for bigness and lateness - two of the key attributes it was supposed to fix in development organizations hard pressed to succeed. Nowadays, with budgets under new scrutiny and business outcomes foremost, we find SOA advisors reminding application developers and integrators to right-size their projects to ensure early deliverables.

We all need the occasional reminder to take one step at a time, and to focus on deliverables. To emphasize its importance, we paraphrase a former U.S. president's words on the economy, saying "It's the increments, stupid." We've noticed the notion showing up more and more often.