When education is needed, where do you turn? You could Google "SOA education CIO," but you'll have to weed through tech product pitches engineered to work as courseware. A better approach: start with education on the ITIL framework, followed by additional education in Service Strategy. Google "ITIL education" for a kick start (or look at CIO.com's own ITIL resources).

Service Strategy is at the core of ITIL v3. The Service Strategy book provides guidance on the design, development, and implementation of service management as an organizational capability and a strategic asset.

Part of the responsibility includes defining the market, chartering the service offerings, and understanding things like demand (a.k.a. capacity, availability, costs), financial (what does it cost to plan, develop and support each service versus the value proposition for the customer), and portfolio (the health of the organization is a combination of the services already offered combined with the service in the pipeline; I can usually tell a great deal about the health of the IT organization by looking at the pipeline).

ITIL can (and IMHO should) be the foundation for CIO success—and that includes SOA projects. If the CIO doesn't see SOA's value to the business, it's possible he or she simply doesn't understand the changing roles of IT and the business. Now, if they are unwilling or unable to grow, then, yes, show them the door. But short of that, show them the text books.