Value of BPEL4WS

BPEL4WS, from the survey in this chapter, has the potential to become a language-based standard for process integration, allowing models to be created on one tool or application integration technology, and transferred one to another without having to make changes to the code. The reality is that it will take some time before BPEL4WS becomes a standard process integration solution, albeit it has the momentum right now.

You should also remember that BPEL4WS does not bring a lot to the table in terms of functionality, but the promise of standards could finally bring many enterprises to process integration those that previously avoided this technology due to its proprietary nature. Standards, however, are only as good as the number of people who leverage them. That's the variable yet to be defined.