Web Services: the Next Big Thing? - Page 3

The Mother of All Web Services

So which web services developer platform is right for your organization? To answer that question, a little developer history provides helpful context. When Java first came out in 1996, applications developed using the language resided on the client side and were considered to be much too slow to be viable solutions by serious developers and IT managers. The principle reason was because of the GUI (pronounced Goo-ie). However, as the industry migrated toward server-side computing and Java went deeper and deeper into an enterprise, its utility increased because machine-to-machine communications don't rely on visual components. Therefore, no GUI was there to slow down a request processing.

With the concept of "write once, deploy anywhere," all of the sudden companies like BEA Systems (WebLogic), IBM (Websphere) and of course Sun were able to capitalize on the Java-based applications servers they had been developing. When Microsoft unveiled its .NET strategy to transform their software into online service, Java partners banded together and turned Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) into a rallying cry. So much so that companies like Rational Software have placed major bets that .NET and J2EE will be the last men standing when the web services war is over. However, .NET and J2EE are, by far, not the only two frameworks available, as illustrated by SYS-CON Media's Web Services Journal.

"Leadership will come from vendors other than Sun through 2003," said David Smith, vice president and research director for Gartner.

Next week, Microsoft plans to unveil Visual Studio.NET, the mother of all developer tools for the mother of all platforms. With VS.NET, Microsoft is hoping to convert 7 million licensed developers to upgrade to the .NET platform. In fact, Microsoft is in the unique position of having the ONLY platform that is capable of directly reaching PC consumers. But, until now, most of the world's largest developer community haven't yet experimented with web services. There are, however, armies of developers that are solely dedicated to building one component of a software app after another -- components that can easily be turned into web services.

For the time being, individuals interviewed for this report declined to predict the future viability of nascent web services segment. Most research firms predict 2002 will be a year to learn, not implement. Jupiter Media Metrix believes web services will not begin to affect companies' broader business decisions for another 18-24 months. Gartner thinks web services will sooner or later dominate new application deployment but not until 2004.

In conclusion, it will likely take more time for businesses to sort the marketing hype to find the real technological benefits. Web services will mostly trickle rather than rush into the corporate IT department but it has already proved it won't go away any time soon.

-- Prepared by Robert Liu, Steve Kapsinow and Dan Muse with contributions from Thor Olavsrud and Jim Wagner.

This is the first part of a 3-part series. Next week, we will examine how web services are evolving and look at what links are still missing to accelerate deployment. In addition, we will examine the unique role that Microsoft plans at this burgeoning segment of the software industry.