Hot Technologies: Web Services: Lets Talk!

IDC reported Web services to be a $21 bn market in 2007. Another

research agency, Radicati puts the combined market for Web services solutions,

management, integration and security to be worth $6.2 bn by 2008.

Closely related to this is the ongoing debate over open

standards and proprietary technologies that prominent best-of-breed suppliers

are trying to promote in order to be able to control a significant portion of

the pie.

Too Many Cooks



Sun Microsystems attempted to address the problem of Web services in 2001 by
launching the Sun Open Net Environment. It was a challenge for Microsofts

.Net. However, things got complicated when in 2003 Sun, Fujitsu, Hitachi, NEC,

Oracle and Sonic Software published would-be standards for queuing incoming

messages. This was followed by Microsoft, IBM, TIBCO, and BEA Systems publishing

a specification called WS-ReliableMessaging. This is turn was followed by Oracle

and Sun coming out with WS-Composite Applications Framework without involving

Microsoft or IBM. All this led to a wide chasm between Java and Microsoft

frameworks.

Promises to Keep



Web services offer several advantages and aim to revolutionize the way services
over the Web are offered.

The Webopedia (www.Webopedia.com)

defines Web services platform a simple, interoperable, messaging framework. It

still misses many important features like security and routing. But, these

pieces will come together once SOAP becomes more advanced, according to the

source.

The term Web services describes a standardized way of

integrating Web-based applications using the XML, SOAP, WSDL and UDDI open

standards over an Internet protocol backbone. Used primarily as a means for

businesses to communicate with each other, and with clients, Web services allow

organizations to communicate data without intimate knowledge of each other's IT

systems behind the firewall.

Moreover, as all communication is in XML, Web services are not

tied to any one operating system or programming language. For example, Java can

talk with Perl, Windows applications can talk with UNIX applications.

Interoperability is the single most important benefit that Web services are

designed to offer.

And, Miles to Go



In spite of all this talk about saving on programming time and costs, quick
deployments, ease-of-use, etc, security continues to be one of the key concerns

of those implementing Web services. However, with most vendors working towards

creating a security standard, the issue may not remain as one for long.

The other area of concern relates to the survival issues of some

of the small Web services companies? With the big boys taking significant

interest in this space, it is difficult to perceive how the lesser players will

pan out in this potentially huge opportunity. Large suppliers like Sun,

Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, BEA Systems and CA along with their technology and

business partners, will try and incorporate Web services features as part of

core their offerings.

Sudesh Prasad



sudeshp@cybermedia.co.in