Web services: Opportunities and challenges for e-business

In spite of industry scepticism, Web services does offer some impressive functions - crossing an integration bridge, few other technologies have managed to do. Danny Ilic, business development owner: enterprise management and security at Computer Associates Africa, discusses the impact of Web services, particularly on e-business, looking at the technology`s challenges and opportunities.

Web services is set to create a universal approach to the integration of business assets, whether they are applications, processes or even people.

Even more significantly, the financial opportunity - that includes technology products and related services - associated with this "universal glue" is estimated at approximately $40 billion by 2006.

From a user perspective, Web services offers relatively cheap and simple integration choice, where proprietary offerings are too complex and expensive.

In particular, the technology holds massive promise for e-business, embracing companies` online business and communication efforts.

Organisations are increasingly crossing country boarders to become more global and, therefore, relying more on technology to realise business efforts.

Technology is as a result moving away from its traditional role in data processing applications within the corporate firewall, to applications that are about exchanging information across the firewall.

A key strength of Web services is that it addresses this change without destroying the value of existing data processing applications.

In plain English, Web services allows a company to link its applications with those of its partners, customers and suppliers via the Internet, in much the same way as Web pages are linked together.

Therefore, businesses can view and use partners` information as if it were their own.

Companies can also link their own applications within the enterprise - even those coded with different programming languages - reducing redundancy and increasing efficiency.

One thing that adopters must bear in mind is that although Web services are exciting, it is still just technology and it didn`t arrive overnight.

Web services have been in development for several years and is based on the key underlying technology XML (extensible markup language), which serves as a translator between various applications.

Another major driver of Web services is known as simple object access protocol, or SOAP. This technology enables transmission of XML over HTTP - the protocol the Web is based on.

Adding to this is another protocol, Web Services Description Language (WSDL) which was developed to enable the creation of user interfaces.

Hype aside, Web services has been primarily developed to influence the way business is conducted - enabling varied types of partnerships between organisations and its users.

The technology, for example, aims to improve communication on ordering, fulfilment, billing and inventory among partners, suppliers and customers, making it seamless, automatic and cost-efficient.

A low-cost and ubiquitous connectivity among and between companies will indeed accelerate the handling of customer requests, lower the cost of performing those transactions and enable bigger players to offer more specialised services.

Look at Amazon or kalahari.net, whose assets aren`t necessarily stored in a warehouse, but rather the information collected about customers and the architecture used to leverage such information by providing features such as personalised product recommendations.

Another way to understand Web services` impact on e-business is to examine successful implementations.

Although not South African examples, is does give us some insight on what Web services can achieve. US online travel booking service Expedia, for example, uses Web services to deliver flight status information and other travel data to customers` PCs and cellphones.

While Zagat Survey - another US company - implemented Web services to reduce the costs of sending monthly updates of its restaurant reviews to its content partners in 45 cities.

Although Web services will only become a truly prevalent technology in the next few years - estimated around 2008 - it is important that companies go about it the right way.

A very important point to remember is not to be over-ambitious or confident. Focus initially on small chunks of functionality that will deliver tangible benefits.

Also remember that Web services will place demands on your network and back-office systems. One of the most common mistakes of e-business is to create a highly scalable front-end that simply freezes over as back-end systems topples under the strain of supporting it.

Scalability, reliability and security must be addressed end-to-end from the start.

Lastly, ensure that you partner with a technology provider or a third-party integrator. This will give you a more clear understanding of the data and process you want to expose, how it will be used - therefore, saving time and money in the long run.

Early Web services adopters have indicated that they relied heavily on the experience and expertise of their technology partners.

CA, for example, supports all the major Web services initiatives and platforms, offering key management and security solutions that will further the technology`s widespread adoption.