The Web Services Value Chain Page 2

By Jean-Christophe Cimetiere of TechMetrix Research

The software vendors have all done their homework on Web services though, and have, at a minimum, announced a strategy.

For example:

• Microsoft is touting out .NET, for which SOAP is a key element
• Sun has delivered its vision of Web services through SUN One, a wrap-up of its existing portfolio (http://www.sun.com /software/sunone /portfolio/)
• HP has unveiled NetAction, a suite of in-house-developed and acquired products (http://www.hp.com/products1/softwareproducts/software/netaction)
• IBM has launched Dynamic e-business (http://www.ibm.com/software/solutions/webservices/), as well as being one of the early supporters of SOAP, initiating the SOAP4J project given to the Jakarta project as an open source framework
• BEA announced its commitment to support all Web service-related standards in its products (http://www.bea.com/press/releases/2001/0226_web_services.shtml)

In the coming months, support for Web services will become a key feature for enterprises choosing an application server. The four critical criteria for evaluating Web services support is already established.

1. Use or reuse of components and business objects
2. Productivity of the tools for Web services enablement
3. Performance and reliability (load balancing and failover)
4. Compliance with standards