1. A method performed by a generic wait service for pausing an instance of a service-oriented application the method comprising: receiving, from the instance of the service-oriented application, an initiation message including a first set of attributes and an exit criterion, the first set of attributes uniquely identifying the instance, the exit criterion identifying a condition that should be satisfied before the instance is allowed to proceed; creating a correlation set based on the first set of attributes, the correlation set associating the first set of attributes with the instance; and waiting for status information relevant to the instance.