1. A method for deploying a reference model of a SOA framework to a target IT environment comprising: performing a set of activities during a transition enablement stage, within which an analysis is performed between a reference software component model for a service oriented architecture (SOA) framework and a target software component model to be executed in a specific IT infrastructure environment, wherein said target software component model is a customized version of the reference software component model; performing a set of activities during an environment preparation stage, within which an assessment is conducted of the necessary software component customizations to the reference software component model for the target software component model and within which an assessment of changes needed to the IT software and hardware environment are made; performing a set of activities during a sandbox delivery stage, within which a test environment having characteristics of the IT infrastructure environment as it exists after the changes resulting from the assessment is established, within which a deployable version of the target software component model including the software component customizations and reference software components is tested within the test environment, and within which a tested version of the target software component model is deployed to the IT infrastructure environment, which has been changed in accordance with changes resulting from the assessment, and wherein each stage of the method is a distinct phase that must be successfully completed before activities for a subsequent stage are performed.