Web services are at risk of being overlooked because of misdirected
marketing efforts.
I came away from a recent Microsoft presentation on Web services
with a sinking feeling. I had sat and listened while Microsoft
enthusiastically explained that for Web services to be successful
you have to make IT the centre of your business.
Although Microsoft is not alone in this belief, these bold claims
are creating confusion as to what Web services can offer and,
unless there is a radical change in this approach, we could be on
the cusp of another doomed self-fulfilling IT prophecy.
Contrary to popular belief, IT is not the pulse that keeps the
enterprise going. It is all about business - making money, cutting
costs and streamlining processes for a leaner and meaner company.
As an industry, we have to stop kidding ourselves that the board's
first and only concern is its IT. This mentality will have dire
consequences for Web services if it is perpetuated - accentuated by
the fact that we are marketing it to the wrong audience, making the
technology sound more complicated than it actually is and
positioning it as a "vanilla" solution.
Web services are all about giving a company an automated business
process and the problem we currently face is that the industry is
gearing the marketing - incorrectly - towards the IT profession. IT
departments may now know what Web services are, but do their
business decision-making colleagues?
By disenfranchising the business community through failing to
communicate Web services' benefits, we risk sending a great
technology to the sidelines before it has a chance to mature. Web
services need to be seen by business decision-makers as a strategic
solution rather than an IT whim.
As a firm believer that Web services offer compelling business
benefits, I am convinced that the technology has to be discussed in
commercial circles to guarantee success.
As an industry we have always been guilty of making IT sound more
complicated than it really is - a problem that Web services is
currently suffering from. As a result conclusions will be drawn in
business echelons that the technology will create disruption
because it is yet another change to the IT strategy.
The fact is that Web services are simple. It is not a radically new
concept, more an extension of current enterprise application
integration (EAI) technologies. By using open standards and
wrappering we are creating a reusable EAI bridge that does not need
to be re-engineered to bring on new supply chains or applications.
Web services, by nature, are not easy to nail down, all of us have
our own view on how they look and feel. However, if you compare Web
services with EAI, it does not appear to be complicated, but simply
a natural evolution of existing technology. Businesses need to
understand that Web services do not equate to a revolution in
existing systems where downtime and blown IT budgets will prevail -
they represent the next sensible option to consider when looking at
ways to develop a competitive edge.
Having spent the past 20 years seeing technologies hailed as the
next great hope fail through perceived shortcomings, I believe that
Web services has to be seen as nothing more than the next
generation of EAI.
Neither should Web services be seen as a vanilla solution. In fact,
"Web services" can mean something different to every company you
speak to. You define your organisation's Web services strategy, not
adopt one supplier's technology.
I know of a council that chose Linux over Windows because Microsoft
controls the desktop, and for it to have the same control over the
council's Web services strategy was thought to be too much to bear.
This does not need to happen, given that Web services' raison
d'etre is to offer open standards-based, application
interoperability.
For Web services to build on its strengths the industry needs to
change its approach. The days of focusing new technology at just
the IT level have gone and the case for the whole business needs to
be put forward.
Web services technology is a real milestone in IT development, but
suppliers, IT departments and business managers need to ensure they
are all singing from the same hymn sheet to secure its long-term
success.
Jon Newlyn is business development manager at
Attachmate