8.3 The last hurrah in terms of the advantages of Web services

As this book draws to an end, it is worth reiterating the advantages of Web services, given that they are manifold and furthermore apply to both the supply and demand side of the computer application market ”in addition to those derived by providers of Web services. Moreover, Web services have the ability to make anyone , whether an enterprise or an individual, who owns rights to some application software into a bona fide software entrepreneur. The Google and amazon.com examples attest to this. Thanks to Web services, companies that hitherto never thought of themselves as being in the software industry can now think of marketing software functionality, for profit, over the Web. It is these considerations that make Web services so worthy of interest. Thus, keeping to the SWOT theme used in Table 8.1, one can highlight the key benefits of Web services to different audiences using the information presented in Tables 8.2 through 8.4.

Table 8.2: Benefits for New Application Developers (Supply Side)
As Web-Service Consumers	As Web-Service Providers
Expedite application development and testing by using best-of-breed , third-party functionality Minimize in-house development costs by utilizing externally developed functionality Deliver more sophisticated and feature-rich applications that exploit value-added functionality from third-party Web services Facilitate enterprise application integration (EAI) with applications from other vendors , using Web services as the data interchange mechanism Gainfully reuse software functionality between different applications	Gain new revenue streams by offering certain software functionality, culled from previously developed applications or applications being developed, as Web services (e.g., Microsoft MapPoint model) Minimize any platform-specific dependencies in the application software by offering various functions from such applications as Web services Collaborate with other application vendors or major system integrators by offering sought-after application functionality in the form of Web services

Table 8.3: Benefits for Owners of Previously Developed Applications (Supply Side)
As Web-Service Consumers	As Web-Service Providers
Rejuvenate the old applications, cost effectively, using functionality derived from third-party Web services Possibly create new applications or application suites by creatively synthesizing culled Web services from old applications Promote EAI with applications from other vendors, using Web services as the data interchange mechanism	Gain new revenue streams by offering software functionality, culled from the old applications, as Web services Eliminate any platform-specific dependencies in the application software by offering various functions from such applications or the entire application as Web services Collaborate with other application vendors or major system integrators by offering sought-after application functionality in the form of Web services

Table 8.4: Benefits for Enterprise-Level Application Consumers (Demand Side)
As Second-Level Web-Service Consumers	As Web-Service Providers
Access to more sophisticated, feature-rich applications Easier in-house application development or enhancement using third-party Web services Faster availability of specialized applications Cross-vendor EAI using Web services Legacy modernization using Web services	Gain new revenue streams by offering culled business logic from legacy applications Tighter collaboration with suppliers and partners by sharing application logic in the form of Web services