Start mastering the protocols
Web services implementation may not be right around the corner, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't get a jump on the technology. Familiarising yourself with the protocols could prove to be a business advantage, says William Zachmann of META Group. And you'll need to develop a Web services infrastructure.
Get a jump start
Although user organisations will sometimes develop their own Web services, more typically they will consume Web services from providers such as Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, and Sun. We also anticipate the introduction of lower-level Web services from third-party providers. For example, while Microsoft will retain proprietary control over high-level services such as its Passport single sign-on and user information capture facility, it will accommodate third-party developers creating lower-level services for the .Net environment.
To exploit Web services effectively, application development groups need to adopt modern componentized programming models for in-house application development. Organizations still writing monolithic programs in C or COBOL will not be able easily to incorporate Web services components.
Although implementation of Web services is still a year or more away, enterprises need to start mastering the new Web services protocols and technologies to understand how they can be used for business advantage. As a first step, advanced technology groups should review the extensive information and downloads offered by at the major vendors' Web sites and begin experimenting with these technologies.
Companies must also develop IT infrastructure to support Web services, using environments like Sun's Java or Microsoft's COM+/.Net as they are meant to be used--not as just another way to build silo applications. Also, IT operations groups need to develop and refine the Internet skills required to run and maintain applications with embedded Web services, such as security.
