We should follow the the example of our European
neighbours and embraceweb services, says Simon
Moores.
When I was interviewing the Microsoft chief executive
officer for Europe, Jean Philippe Courtois, last week, we touched
briefly on web services and areas where he felt that Europe was
leading the rest of the world.
The arrival of the internet made the world a much easier place
to develop workable "open" standards, and standards can be good for
business as they can deny a single company the opportunity of
controlling an important technology.
You may have read that Microsoft has finally been persuaded to
reveal its source code to governments and has been working with the
industry to develop and support the next generation of open
standards and technical rules such as Soap, XML, UDDI and WSDL.
Of course, Microsoft’s view of the future doesn’t always
coincide with everyone else’s, particularly if you happen to be Sun
Microsystems or IBM, but Courtois comments:
"Our XML-based interoperable world where data can be shared as
easily as text and pictures, is an example of how we are enhancing
technologies and connecting all systems, not just Microsoft's. This
is a credible, open and innovative approach which even our sceptics
would agree is a real commitment."
Where XML is involved, at least there is a consensus, or as
close to one as you’re ever likely to find in this industry, which
has XML acting rather like the fax machine of the 21st century.
What do I mean by this? Fax machines are taken for granted these
days because the technology negotiates which standard they use to
communicate with each other, in this case the transmission
speed.
XML, the foundation on which web services are being built, does
much the same thing but in terms of a common understanding of what
a piece of information, such as "customer" or "date" actually means
in a document being passed between different systems.
For XML to work, everyone has to work together, friend and foe
alike, with no room for any one company to stay outside what is
effectively the equivalent of the Euro currency for web
services.
Courtois points out that because of the demand for legislative
"harmonisation" between member states, "the EU is leading in
developing many standards of the new interoperable and secure
computing environment; this again offers opportunities for us to
both learn and contribute."
Asked if there are fundamental differences in challenges facing
the company in Europe, Courtois identifies three areas as uniquely
European.
"There are some exceptional technology opportunities in Europe.
Smart phone technology is one good example," he says.
"Tablet PCs can also leverage wireless advances in Europe,
faster than in other markets. E-government is advancing quickly
across Europe and European information workers are the prime
beneficiaries of many of the technology advances that we are
seeing."
So, it’s good news for Europe, with Courtois estimating that one
and half million IT jobs have been created in the EU through the
collision of the internet and the personal computer. And it's good
news for Microsoft that more than one million people are engaged in
reselling Microsoft technology in western Europe.
Compared with the UK, there is so much good news in Europe that
I am seriously thinking of joining the long list of asylum-claiming
columnists on the other side of the channel, where lunch takes two
hours and where the trains run on time.
I don’t know anyone in IT who wouldn’t do the same if the
opportunity arose. Would you?
What do you think?
Is the UK IT industry falling behind our European
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Setting the world to rights with the collected thoughts and
opinions of leading industry analystDr Simon
Mooresof Zentelligence.
Acting globally, Zentelligence (Research) advises
governments, suppliers, business and the media on the evolution,
application and delivery of leading-edge technologies and
specialises in the areas of eGovernment and information
security.
For further information on Zentelligence and its research,
presentation and analyst services visitwww.zentelligence.com