Hub ConnectionThe future of Web services will rely on channels or hubs that connect service providers to end usersContinued from Page 1 Things get even more interesting in terms of S2B hubs. Microsoft bCentral has gradually evolved from being a small business destination portal dominated by content into a true S2B hub. This caterpillar is getting dangerously close to becoming a butterfly. Microsoft is already delivering some significant "release one" services of its own via its bCentral hub. Small businesses can now manage a number of key business processes by subscribing to bCentral Web services such as Finance Manager for small business accounting, Commerce Manager for online catalog management and marketplace connectivity, and Customer Manager for basic sales force automation and CRM. It didn't take a crystal ball to figure out that the My Services initiative for consumer Web services was certain to be followed by an initiative for delivering Web services to businesses and business processes. This new initiative has arrived in the form of Blizzard, a specification for creating B2B Web services. For bCentral and other future S2B hubs from Microsoft to succeed, Microsoft must start climbing up the food chain by providing the means for developers to build, deploy, and deliver Web services that connect businesses together and enhance business processes. Make no mistake: Microsoft is now in the business process automation business. ERP OPPORTUNITIESThe most interesting platform for the development of business process enhancement (BPE) S2B hubs are the ERP systems now used to run businesses worldwide. The benefit that ERP vendors have is that they already "own" many of the core business processes used to run the organizations that use their ERP suites. By creating their own S2B hubs focused on servicing the needs of their captive community of ERP users, ERP vendors have the opportunity to build significant new subscription revenue streams from the use of Web services through these hubs. By ensuring that their ERP systems are tightly integrated with the Web services delivered through their Web service hubs, ERP vendors can also keep a tight grip on their user base and leverage maximum advantage from the emerging world of Web services. SAP was probably the first ERP vendor to recognize this opportunity because its widely misunderstood MySAP.com initiative included an S2B hub as part of the overall "Web-enabling" of the original R/3 product line. In the small office/home office market, Intuit Inc. also recognized the potential of S2B hubs and has been providing Web services to users of its Quicken and QuickBooks products for some years now. Microsoft didn't fail to recognize the importance of having an ERP system as an on-ramp to Web services; this opportunity was one reason for its acquisition of Great Plains Software Inc. (a midtier ERP vendor) last year. There will be a lot of action from ERP vendors over the next couple of years as they seek to secure their customer base via BPE S2B hubs. In the midtier, Microsoft won't have it all its own way. Danish ERP vendor Navision is set to release an S2B hub later this year to begin servicing its worldwide customer base of more than 100,000 sites — and more ERP vendors are certain to follow. Web service hubs will be an integral part of the Web services landscape. That's good news for developers of Web services. And it's also good news for service consumers, who will benefit from access to a useful set of BPE Web services that are also fully integrated with the existing applications they use on their clients or servers. Stewart McKie is an independent software analyst and author of Web Services: A Manager's Guide, which is available from www.contentcan.com.
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