From a white paper by IDC on “IBM and the Strategic Potential of Web Services”:
2002: Within the Firewall
– simplified application integration
– increased developer productivity2004: Contained External Users
– simplified business partner connectivity
– richer application functionality
– subscription-based services2006: Fully Dynamic Search and Use
– casual ad-hoc use of services
– new business models possible
– commoditisation of software
– pervasive use in non-traditional devices
This seems to be too slow a deployment – perhaps, it is applicable to the larger enterprises. Increasingly, I feel that web services area great opportunity for the have-nots in the world of software. By combining software standards and business process standards, they can do cost-effectively what the bigger companies will take years to do. The smaller enterprises have little legacy. If they have a framework which can be implemented by using shareable business process components (so that each business does not have to go through the same learning), they can be closer to the dream of a real-time enterprise.
