Key Insights

• There are nine different ways (at least) to use Web services to help improve organizational efficiency, open new business opportunities, recreate supply/distribution chains, and otherwise reinvent existing business models. Generic examples of how Web services can be used are included in this chapter; real-world examples are provided in the next chapter.

Previous chapters have provided you with an understanding of how Web services work and have described some issues, as well as work-arounds that can enable your organization to overcome certain Web services shortcomings. Now it's time to explore what Web services can enable you to do.

Web services fundamentally change the way that information systems can be built. Applications can be assembled on-the-fly; they can work across multiple systems architectures; and/or they can be deployed across various internal and external systems. No matter which approach or combination of approaches an enterprise chooses, the biggest paybacks generally are that (1) businesses can reduce costs related to application development; (2) businesses can respond more quickly to market or competitive changes; and (3) businesses can increase operational efficiency (through business integration of Web-based applications).

Over time, Web services will be used to change the entire business and go-to-market strategies of a wide range of enterprises. Web services applications will be used to change the way enterprises position themselves, the services they provide to customers, and the way that they work with business partners and other members of their supply chains. Further, Web services will allow companies to bring their unique software to market, thus opening opportunities to remarket existing intellectual content in new and different ways.

In the Executive Summary chapter, I identified nine separate and distinct ways to use Web services for strategic advantage (these are repeated in Figure 5-1). This chapter examines each of these points from a strategic "what's possible to do" perspective, such that business executives can understand the strategic ramifications of Web services to their existing and future business models.

Figure 5-1. Web Services Benefits.