Web Services

Background:

Web services can be defined in many ways. Typically, they encompass the exchange of information between two or more computer systems using XML as the format of the information and an Internet protocol, such as HTTP, as the transport. This is a technical definition.

The great promise of Web Services is that thanks to the interoperability and extensibility of XML, applications can dynamically combine various Web Services to create new and more complex operations. For large corporations, a well-managed web services strategy can result in substantially lower application integration costs and improved business processes through an open and lean approach.

Eventually, web services will fulfill a greater promise to enable companies to correlate IT investments with business value. System interactions will continue to be automated, with applications searching the Internet for the services they need and dynamically binding to services to access the information they are looking for. We will see large corporations first deploying new versions of popular enterprise software packages from vendors like SAP, PeopleSoft, Siebel, and i2, which implement Web Services interfaces. As this process continues, many legacy applications will become Web Services-enabled as well. This trend will continue as new applications are designed to provide Web Services interfaces. As Microsoft's .NET initiative becomes more widely adopted, many small data sources will be made available as Web Services as well.

Already web services have spun off a wide range of related vocabularies and technologies, such as those for orchestration, routing and authentication. These technologies will become more complex as they mature. As users move from simple pilot applications that take advantage of open source or cheap technology and move toward more complex applications that are critical to the enterprise, they will need the in-house expertise to manage the resulting integration issues.

Overall, the importance of web services that can be realized now is that they support and promote the development of open, interconnected and distributed applications. Lisle Technology Partners offers both training seminars and professional consulting services to assist companies that want to start using web services. Please contact us today for more information.