Web services are marked by their independent natures.
Their strength lies in this independence. It doesn’t matter
if linking organizations are using a mainframe
versus a Windows-based NT server, or internally developed
versus packaged software. Web services are
platform-neutral, and adopters don’t have to worry
about things like binary compatibility between various
operating systems.
Such neutrality is critical when it comes to integrating
systems with partners. Integrating business
processes between enterprises with traditional middleware
has been difficult, because it’s unlikely that two
firms will use the same technologies. There’s also a
very low chance they’ll be written in the same language,
such as C, C++, or Java. But XML can be interpreted
by any language and can be sent from any
middleware, so it doesn’t matter if you’re using Java,
Microsoft, CORBA, or whatever.
Operational simplicity is another reason a growing
number of organizations are looking at Web services.
With its value-defining tags, XML lets a Web services
application make a remote procedure call (RPC) into a
data store. That makes the exchange of even detailed
information simple and almost foolproof.
Standards and simplicity lead to speedier application
development at lower costs. With standards, IT
managers know what they’re dealing with when they
develop applications—there’s no mystery. Also, with
standards-based development tools, vendors will no
longer be able to command top dollar for use of their
proprietary technologies. Additionally, Web services
can improve efficiency by allowing enterprises to
streamline business processes, such as supply chains
between companies and their trading partners.
The technology’s promise of steady work and its
relatively shallow learning curve have already inspired
many developers to begin acquiring Web services
skills. Since learning Web services development isn’t
nearly as difficult as, say, switching from C++ to Java,
the ability to find the talent isn’t nearly as much of a
problem as it has been in other new technology areas.
Web services also have the potential to provide significant
cost savings. A link between two applications
that don’t use Web services can cost upward of $1 million.
Organizations need to compare that number to the
expense of retraining their developers in Web services
technologies. Then, they should look at the cost of converting
existing applications into Web services. The
payoff will come over time for most organizations, as
disparate applications are combined into a handful of
Web services. Now, for example, they can build one
database that’s able to understand SOAP messages and
communicate with thousands of people.
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