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July 26, 2002

Now It's Serious

It's time to take a "strategic" view of Web services

by Justin Kestelyn

Remember the application service provider (ASP) craze of the late 1990s? Analysts, editorial opinion-makers, and startups the world over were proclaiming "the end of software." To its enthusiasts, the ASP model was the antidote to the cost and complexity of packaged software, period.

It didn't turn out that way; the ASP model had limited appeal. However, its proponents did help create a consensus that outsourcing can be a good idea for "agile" intelligent enterprises. When Microsoft announced its .Net vision for XML Web services, followed shortly by Sun's Open Net Environment (ONE) articulation of Java-based Web services, it soon became a fait accompli among hype-mongers that software components delivered as Web services would eventually replace packaged software.

In many respects, this new concept is less risky, more elegant, and enables more business models; roughly, instead of an ASP hosting an entire (and possibly business-critical) application on your behalf, a service provider, internal app server, or external partner exposes specific content or functionality. Even so, as in the case of ASPs, a host of important questions remain unanswered.

Holes in the Cheese

The Web services concept, when finally generally understood (the lack of consensus about a Web service's best purpose troubles me (see Barry Murphy's "Process of Improvement"), may be transformational for many organizations. But before it can possibly fulfill that potential, IT managers and executives will have to do their homework.

The basic point is that Web services — regardless of their role as enterprise application integration or B2B middleware, enterprise portal infrastructure, or dynamic information and content aggregators — make serious demands on an IT infrastructure. It should be no surprise, in fact, that they make the same demands as any other distributed computing methodology: for reliability, workflow and business process coordination, and scalability, just to name a few. Despite all the posturing about a new "paradigm," we've clearly been down this road before.

These requirements, which are too complex to describe in detail here, present interesting opportunities (beyond the obvious development tool ones) for nimble software companies. One example is AmberPoint, a startup founded by former Forte Software/Sun Microsystems executives, including CEO John Hubinger, the onetime general manager of worldwide sales for Sun's software tools division and ex-Forte sales chief, and Paul Butterworth, Sun's former CTO for Forte tools.

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As Hubinger told me, AmberPoint's first product, Management Foundation, is inspired by the premise that action is more important than observation. Thus, the product (which isn't a hosted service, by the way) offers "visibility" into Web services transactions by focusing on message content. Thanks to this approach, regardless of the flavor (Java 2 Enterprise Edition or .Net) or origin (internal or external) of the Web services involved, AmberPoint Management Foundation provides performance monitoring, access control, business alerts, upgrades, and auditing. These mundane issues are rarely mentioned in the same breath as Web services, but for IT organizations entrusting business-critical functions to them, they're truly strategic.

Hot Potato

The fact is that the Web services model will not fail completely nor succeed gloriously, but rather achieve something in between. But even for that to happen, you'll have to treat it like any other distributed computing methodology: very carefully.

Net Seminar: Web Services — The Strategic IT View

Interested in learning more about IT infrastructure for Web services? Participate in an Intelligent Enterprise Net Seminar on July 30 at 11 a.m. PDT. We'll discuss the important roles of sound business process infrastructure as well as scalability, reliability, security, standards, and manageability when creating a viable Web services strategy. Register today at www.NetSeminar.com.