Microsoft latest version of SOAP -- a form of XML that enables developers to more easily link applications and services over the Internet -- is getting a credibility boost from IBM.
The latest version of Simple Object Access Protocol, available now, expands the potential uses of the specification and extends its ability for asynchronous messaging. SOAP's co-developers include IBM and UserLand Software.
Last week, the World Wide Web Consortium acknowledged the submission of SOAP, meaning the specification is now open for discussion by the group's members as well as a proposal to create an Extensible Markup Language-based protocol working group. Other companies supporting SOAP include Compaq and Hewlett-Packard.
"What we're trying to do now with SOAP is [offer] a standardised way for integrating different applications and different operating systems," said John Montgomery, SOAP program manager for Microsoft. "The key to that is XML."
Version 1.1, the third edition of SOAP, is more compliant with XML standards and based more on a loosely coupled architecture, Montgomery said. Unlike previous iterations, Version 1.1 can ride on top of any protocol.
Robert Sutor, IBM's program director for XML technology, said: "There were several things about the [SOAP] draft last year that we weren't happy with. It needed to be built on W3C standards a little more than it was. ... There was a bit of a Microsoft bias to the design. We felt it really had to be in a form that didn't tie it to a program model or particular system."
Sutor added that while the companies compete in some areas, cooperation on standards benefits users because it allows interoperability.
"SOAP is something we're going to see a lot of," said Tim Bray, CEO of Antarctica Systems and co-editor of XML 1.0 for the W3C. "SOAP gives you a relatively low-cost way to tie software together across the Internet."
Bray said that standards such as Component Object Model or Common Object Request Broker Architecture tend to be expensive and time-consuming. He said SOAP is less sophisticated. "It's important to realise SOAP isn't a cure-all or universally applicable," Bray said. "But it is something that's going to be darn useful and applied to a lot of different applications." Customers are often leery of something coming out of a single company, particularly if that company happens to be Microsoft, he said.
David Smith, an analyst with Gartner Group said IBM's participation is good news for the interoperability of Java and Microsoft's product. "The bottom line is that the things added to it are support for more protocols, which made it attractive to IBM," Smith said. "It also has more support for the XML schema of the [W3C]."
However, Kate Fessenden, an analyst with Aberdeen Group, has concerns about SOAP that IBM's involvement can't allay. "SOAP has been notorious for not being secure," Fessenden said. "IBM signing on doesn't make me feel any better. ... I don't think IBM eases the perception of SOAP at all. Do you want your business applications to be in clear text as they go across the Internet?"
