Chapter 5: Vertical Market Implications of Web Services

OVERVIEW

“There will always be another reality to make fiction of the truth we think we’ve arrived at.”
Christopher Fry

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can . . . begin it; boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The economics of Web services will dictate where they are used, how quickly organizations adopt them, and how much they will ultimately change the business and IT landscape. The use of value chain analysis in Chapter 4, “Strategic Implications of Web Services,” shows how changes in business processes and cost structures might drive the adoption of Web services. However, the application of Web services to business processes, and their impact on cost structures, will vary from business to business and from industry to industry. This chapter expands on the use of Web services in specific industries and explores areas of greatest potential for their adoption.