WS-I.org

In order to achieve truly interoperable Web Services from all the IT vendors, a new organization addresses interoperability-related issues in connection with the WS-* specifications. The Web Services Interoperability group, http://www.WS-I.org (quite conveniently found at ws-i.org), is a group made up of major vendors including Microsoft, IBM, BEA, and a number of global, corporate customers including Rational, NEC, Borland, Hewlett-Packard, and others. (See Figure 21-1.)

Figure 21-1

This group's mission is to test and address interoperability of the advanced Web service specifications between the different vendors' platforms. They do this by providing the best means of testing this inter- operability as well as offering thoughtful leadership and guidance on interoperability.