MetraTech the Waltham, Mass. provider of Web billing services yesterday predicted Microsoft’s new Windows XP operating system will advance the adoption of XML-based billing technology for Web services.
MetraTech’s XML-based billing platform is designed to help companies mix, match, combine and customize billing plans which when created in a shorter time can also earning the company money faster.
It is expected that Microsoft will soon deliver its own Web services – Microsoft .Net My Services – on XP for calendaring, contact-list management, document/image storage, credit card information and personal identification data.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates and many other industry leaders believe .Net will form the foundation for the Internet’s next phase of development, “beyond today’s world of standalone Web sites to an Internet of interchangeable components where devices and services can be assembled into cohesive, user-driven experiences,” says Gates.
MetraTech argues that its Web services billing platform adds vital component, such as XML billing and revenue sharing, to the Web services landscape.
“Windows XP and .Net will drive the adoption of Web services that developers will create using dynamic Web applications,” says Scott Swartz, MetraTech’s president and CEO. “MetraTech is perfectly positioned to provide the missing component that will allow these developers to bill for their applications, and allow partners to share revenue,” she adds.
According to analyst firm Gartner, Inc., Web services are likely the hottest trend of 2001 and 2002, and are spawning “increasingly complex Internet-based interactions between businesses, their trading partners.” Gartner concludes that customers are driving demand for more standards-centric Web services strategies.
