Web Services: An Analysis of the Technology, its Benefits, and Implementation Difficulties

Abstract

Software reuse and systems interoperability have been primary goals of many IT organizations, especially those that rely heavily on computer networks. Object-oriented (OO) technology has been utilized to accomplish these goals with relative success over the years; but there are many hurdles that OO technology could not overcome. One of them is due to lack of standards. An object developed in one vendor's technology cannot easily communicate with another's. Another difficulty is that the majority of software applications reside behind firewalls – security barriers that restrict communication between networks. Web services, self-describing services that can easily be consumed over the Web, is the latest trend in the industry to address the problems identified above. Web services enable a group of related applications to be programmatically invoked over the Internet. They are rapidly emerging as important building blocks for business integration. Companies are finding important Web service applications in B2B, B2C, and enterprise application integration solutions. This article reviews the technical underpinnings of Web services and discusses their business opportunities and potential benefits. It also assesses the challenges and implementation difficulties of the technology.