ADOPTION OF STANDARDS

Reflecting about one’s experiences over the past few years, an executive might be asking the question, “Why should I invest in Web services, especially when my prior investment in e-Business didn’t provide the returns that the software vendors and consultants promised?” That executive might also ask, “Aren’t Web services just hype created by the software and services industries to generate additional revenues?” This skepticism is understandable.

In considering these questions, executives should understand the critical difference between previous IT trends and what we are seeing today with the development of Web services. Today, there is a previously unseen level of agreement and collaboration on the development of a core set of standards for system interoperability using Web services. This unprecedented level of collaboration, from the likes of IBM, Microsoft, and BEA—in developing standards to enable and extend Web services— represents an early sign that the software industry is entering a phase of maturation (a phase in which more consistent standards for interoperability will likely become the norm).

When considering this concept, think back to the 1970s with the emergence of the home video recorder. In 1975, Sony introduced the first home video recorder using its Betamax standard, while one year later JVC released the first VHS home video recorder. During the following years, Betamax and VHS fought for market acceptance and dominance. By 1988, the VHS standard held 99% of market share, while Sony held the remaining 1% with Betamax. The economics were no longer viable for Sony, and in late 1988 they dropped the Betamax standard and produced their first VHS video recorder. Today, each manufacturer uses proprietary technologies to implement their range of VHS video recorders, but standards broadly ensure that a tape recorded on one VHS recorder will play on other VHS recorders.

Similar to the way in which proprietary technology is used to build a video recorder, proprietary software can be used to develop a Web service. Again, much as the proprietary technology used to build a VHS recorder is hidden from the user through the use of standards (In this case the standard VHS cassette and the recorded VHS signal), the inner workings of a Web service are also hidden through the use of standards. In this way, it is possible for an organization developing Web services using Microsoft .Net (pronounced “dot net”) to interoperate with an organization implementing Web services using Java or other implementation languages. Web services standards provide a level of abstraction that “mask” the underlying programming language, allowing systems to be implemented using a combination of services developed in different programming languages.

Not only do Web services standards make it possible to hide the specifics of the programming language in which a service is developed, but they also make it possible to hide the specifics of the hardware on which the service is implemented—and even the physical location from which the service is being provided.