Does the App Server Market Still Exist? Page 7

By Jean-Christophe Cimetiere of TechMetrix Research

The .NET strategy introduces various new concepts. Looking closer at Microsoft’s approach, we might label it ultra-proprietary. Indeed, all the interesting innovations are inextricably linked with one another and anchored to the Windows platform (e.g., Active Directory Services). Paradoxically, Microsoft is opting for the “honest” approach, playing on openness and interoperability by actively participating in the development of the SOAP standard.

This openness encourages us to hope for a good degree of interoperability between the Java and Microsoft worlds, particularly in terms of business-to-business exchanges based on the concept of Web Services.