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Web Services Explained, Solutions and Applications for the Real World 1/e
Joe Clabby
Published July 2002 by Prentice Hall PTR
Copyright 2003, 240 pp., Paper
ISBN: 0-13-047963-2
List Price:
$29.99
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In-Stock
   
Preface


Sample Chapter
Summary

Web services for decision makers: strategic insights and actionable recommendations.

  • How Web services will transform the way software is built, sold, implemented, and managed
  • All you need to know to plan an intelligent Web services strategy
  • Risks and pitfalls in current WebsServices architectures
  • Detailed guidance for choosing the right vendor
  • Up-to-the-minute comparisons of Microsoft's .NET and Sun's J2EE platforms
  • Realistic assessments of Web services' impact on ISVs, OEMs, and service providers

Web services will transform the way software is created, sold, and delivered. In this executive briefing, leading analyst and consultant Joe Clabby tells IT and business decision makers what the Web services revolution really means. Web Services Explained clearly explains the fundamentals of Web services technology, offers examples of how it can be used for competitive advantage, and shows how it will impact every player in the IT value chain. It delivers the strategic insights and specific recommendations you'd expect to find only in a $1,000 analyst report, answering the critical questions managers must ask:

  • What exactly are Web services?
  • How do Web services technologies actually work?
  • What are the shortcomings and "gotchas" of current Web services architectures, and what can I do about them?
  • What can Web services help me do that I can't do already?
  • Who's already using Web services, and what results are they achieving?
  • What are the most appropriate Web services applications for my company?
  • What questions should I ask Web services vendors, and how should I choose among them?
  • Should I commit to Microsoft's .NET platform, Sun's J2EE platform, or neither?
  • How will Web services impact my organization?
  • How will Web services impact my suppliers and my broader business environment?

If you need to make key decisions about Web services, you need the strategic intelligence that can be found in only one book: Web Services Explained.



Author Bio

JOE CLABBY, President of Sensory Virtual, served until recently as Vice President of Platforms and Services at the Aberdeen Group in Boston, one of the top five technology research and analysis firms in the United States. At Aberdeen, he managed a team of research analysts and wrote several of Aberdeen's key reports on strategic technology. His technical background includes 23 years in the IT marketplace, in roles ranging from sales and marketing to program/project management, research, and analysis. He is author of Visualize This: Collaboration, Communication, and Commerce in the 21st Century.
Table of Contents

(NOTE:Each chapter begins with In This Chapter, Key Insights, and conclude with Chapter Summary.)

Preface.

Executive Summary. What Is This Change? What Do Web Services Enable Your Organization to Do? What Are Web Services? But There's More to Web Services Than Just UDDI, WSDL, and SOAP. What's So Special about Web Services? I've Heard This All Before—Are Web Services for Real? How Web Services Differ from Previous Architectures. Issues, Shortcomings, Gotchas… Alternatives. When Will My Organization Need to Be Ready to Deploy Web Services? Vendor Selection Criteria. Three Approaches.

I. A BUSINESS EXECUTIVE PRIMER ON WEB SERVICES.

1. What Are “Web Services”?

In This Chapter. Key Insights. Another Way of Defining What Web Services Do: Consider Publish, Find, and Bind. The Author's Personal Definition of Web Services. A Basic Web Services Architecture. A Complete Web Services Architecture.

2. What Are Program-to-Program Communications?

In This Chapter. Key Insights. What Are Program-to-Program Communications? Previous Program-to-Program Communications Architectures Have Met with Limited Success. Examples: Previous Approaches. Why Program-to-Program Communications Using Web Services Will Become the Industry Standard.

3. How Do Specific Web Services Technologies Work?

In This Chapter. Key Insights. Specific Web Services Technologies. XML: A Lot More Than Just Content/Format. XML: Even More Technical Detail. The Roles of UDDI, WSDL, and SOAP. Building a Web Services Architecture Using Some or None of the Formal Standards. An Example: Using an Alternative Approach to UDDI for Finding Cooperative Applications. How This Application Would Work as a Truly Automated Web Service.

4. Gotchas.

In This Chapter. Key Insights. Weak Points in Web Services Architecture. Having Stated This…

II. AN IDEA/STRATEGIC PLANNING GUIDE FOR BUSINESS EXECUTIVES.

5. What Do Web Services Enable My Organization to Do?

In This Chapter. Key Insights. Web Services in Action: Generic Examples. How Web Services Can Help a Business Open New Markets. Not So Fast… How Web Services Can Be Used to Dynamically Increase a Company's Application Portfolio. Not So Fast… How Web Services Can Be Used to Reduce Development Time and Costs. Not So Fast… How Web Services Can Help Create New Organizational Efficiencies. How Web Services Can Help an Enterprise Create/Overcome Competitive Pressure. Not So Fast… How Web Services Can Help Create a New Revenue Stream from Existing Intellectual Property. Not So Fast… How Web Services Can Help ISVs Repackage Their Software Offerings to Better Reach/Serve Existing Markets. Repacking Affects Physical Product Packaging, Marketing/Promotion, Business Partnership Strategies, and Sales-Channel Approaches. Not So Fast… How Web Services Can Help Solve Legacy Systems Incompatibility Problems. Not So Fast… Another Example of How Web Services Can Help Resolve Interoperability Issues. How Web Services Improve Individual Productivity. Not So Fast…

6. Who Is Using Web Services?

In This Chapter. Key Insights. How Web Services Can Help a Business Open New Markets. Not So Fast… How Web Services Can Be Used to Reduce Development Time and Costs. Not So Fast… Another Use of Web Services to Reduce Development Time and Costs. How Web Services Can Be Used to Help Create New Organizational Efficiencies. Storebrand's Web Services Plans Beyond Creating Organizational Efficiency. Not So Fast… How Web Services Can Help Create a New Revenue Stream from Existing Intellectual Property. Not So Fast… How Web Services Can Help ISVs Repackage Their Software Offerings to Better Reach/Serve Existing Markets. How Web Services Can Help Solve Legacy Systems Incompatibility Problems. Not So Fast… How Web Services Improve Individual Productivity. Not So Fast…

7. When Should My Organization Adopt Web Services?

In This Chapter. Key Insights. The Types of Questions You Need to Ask Yourself. Where Is Most of the Activity Taking Place Today? Pay Close Attention to UDDI.

III. A BUSINESS EXECUTIVE BUYER'S GUIDE.

8. What Vendor Selection Criteria Should Be Used?

In This Chapter. Key Insights. How Do You Build/Acquire Web Services Applications? Three Approaches. A Closer Look at the Application Server Marketplace. First-Pass Look at the Market Positioning of Some of the Application Server Competitors.

9. Should We Adopt .NET or J2EE?

In This Chapter. Key Insight. Market Dynamics. Two Camps: Microsoft .NET and Java. The J2EE versus .NET Rivalry. Opinion. Differences Between J2EE and .NET. Microsoft's Response.

10. Vendor Comparison—Contrasting Various Product and Service Offerings.

In This Chapter. Key Insights. Category 1: Application Server Providers. Example 1: Turnkey Platform Providers. Vendor Profile: IBM. Vendor Profile: Sun. Example 2: Application Server Software Providers. Microsoft. IONA Technologies PLC. webMethods Incorporated. Category 2: Building Your Own la Carte, Point Product Web Services Applications. Example 1: Point Product Tools and Utilities. Forum Systems. Example 2: Using Open Source to Build Web Services Applications. Category 3: Web Services Professional Service Providers. GE Global Exchange Services.

11. A Review of Where This Book Has Taken Us.

A Review of Each Major Part of the Book.

I. A WEB SERVICES PRIMER.

Definition. Program-to-Program Communications. How Web Services Work. Limitations, Shortcomings, and Gotchas. What Does Web Services Enable My Organization to Do? Who Is Using Web Services: Real-World Examples. When?

III. A BUSINESS EXECUTIVE'S BUYER'S GUIDE.

Vendor Selection Criteria: Three Approaches. J2EE versus .NET Market Dynamics. Web Services Supplier Profiles. Summary Observations and Conclusions. Best Advice. Parting Comments.
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