Web Services Strategies
Beyond the technology, IT strategies for implementation of Web services by Doug Kaye.
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Business Process Management. As web-services protcols become the standards for enterprise-application integration (EAI), what role will BPM methodologies play? Some recent opinions from others (I'm still formulating my own):
- Hurwitz Group recommends that enterprises keep their eyes on Web Services as part of a BPM solution. Look for improved process support and management support for Web Services platforms. Point-to-point Web Services integration could lead to SOAP scum -- a residue of integration without BPM.
- Gartner: "We believe that workflow, which is managed by BPM (business process management) is the way that organizations are going to go."
- Jenz & Partner refer to web services and BPM as an unbeatable team. Dieter Jenz is tackling the ROI and TCO issues in a multipart column. (Part 1, Part 2)
But BPM tends to emphasize workflow and in-line integration. It's slow and document oriented. Web services offer the potential for faster, more transactional integration, so a BPM-only view of web services may be too limiting.
Posted Monday, March 25, 2002 10:34:04 AM 
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XML in Financial Services. For $795 you can download the full report from ZapThink Research. Or you can read the summary of findings for free. While the report considers XML to be an important technology ("expenditures on XML technologies in the Financial Services sector will grow to over $8.3 Billion by 2005") it's doesn't see the same for web services ("toolset immaturity and the impact of B2B and web services standards will impact integration efforts"). [Source: Leon Benjamin, The Ecademy]
Posted Monday, March 25, 2002 10:33:09 AM
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XML Databases. Anyone who's developed an object-oriented system with a complex relational backend will enthusiastically enumerate the advantages of a native object-oriented database. While legacy applications will long be based on the relational model, new web-services applications may benefit from native XML databases. Some interesting references:
- Ronald Bourret maintains an XML Database Products web site.
- Ron also has a page of XML/database links.
- Oracle Corp., IBM and Microsoft Corp. are taking steps to make unstructured XML data fit as comfortably as traditional structured data in their respective data management systems. [eWeek] I don't expect these gateways to offer much in the way of performance, but they may turn out to be useful for providing XML-based access to legacy relational data.
Posted Monday, March 25, 2002 9:40:54 AM
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UDDI Myths. Read Julian Bond's comments on a Gartner Viewpoint article in ZDNet Tech Update, Four myths about UDDI, the Web services registry.
- Myth 1: UDDI is mainly for locating new (or unknown) partners
- Myth 2: UDDI must be used as a public registry
- Myth 3: UDDI will eliminate trading-partner agreement problems
- Myth 4: UDDI is only usable through machine interfaces
Posted Monday, March 25, 2002 9:00:49 AM
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