Service
> Web Services
Web Services
A Web Service
is software system designed to support interoperable
machine-to-machine interaction over a network.
Used primarily as a means for businesses
to communicate with each other and with
clients, Web services allow organizations
to communicate data without intimate knowledge
of each other's IT systems behind the firewall.
To use Web Services to the best possible
advantage an organization must understanding
the pitfalls and benefits.
Radiant
offers six entry points for successful Web
services:
- Web Services Architecture
- Web Services Creation
- Web Services Provisioning
- Web Services Brokering
- Web Services Management
- Web Services Consulting
and Integration
Web Services Architecture
Web services
build on the concept of distributed computing,
as it evolved from Unix OLTP to distributed
component architectures and to the Internet
architecture. A complete Web services architecture
will consist of three runtime environments:
- A Service Provider:
This could be an application server or
any engine that hosts a service.
- A Service Consumer:
This could be another application, a portal,
a Web browser or cell phone that presents
the service to the ultimate consumer.
- A Services Manager:
This management platform would act as
a management environment for coordinating
services while they are being used.
- But Web services architecture
isn't as simple as just a provider/consumer
mode. It is the overriding theme surrounding
the four platforms that dominate Web services.
Web services architecture is really only
an entry point for those big enough to
have some impact on service provision,
service consumption, service production
and service management.
Web Services Creation
Web services
creation is a development cycle for services.
Its success will be defined by the ability
to coordinate development activities from
process management through to testing and
deployment of services.
Web Services Provisioning
Web services
provide a new opportunity for companies,
and even individuals, to become suppliers
of business services internally and over
the Web.
Web Services Brokering
Brokering
of preexisting Web services will provide
a model for any enterprise that chooses
to become an indirect supplier channel.
For a fee, the Web services broker will
connect users of a Web service with the
provider of that service. Brokers will not
create services, nor will they manage or
host services. Instead, Web services brokers
will focus on building a large supplier
network and will mine that network to generate
incremental revenue. The Web services broker
will focus on aggregating an appropriate
set of services and cataloging those services
as a portfolio of offerings.
Web Services Management
The Web
services network will catalyze efforts to
build trading communities based on Web services.
However, the key role for the Web services
network will be in coordinating the management
of Web services so that they provide a consistent
level of quality.
Web services management
will consist of two levels:
- The Web services network:
These networks use Web services standards
and a service-oriented approach. It is
intended to be a hosted service for coordinating
the activities of partners in a collaborative
value chain.
- A product-level management
platform: This will be an application
server with management facilities, or
a product from a vendor such as Talking
Blocks or Interkeel. Traditional electronic
data interchange companies, e-marketplace
vendors and systems/network management
players will also dominate in this space.
Web Services Consulting
and Integration
Consultants will work with
organizations to identify their needs and
provide the necessary integration service
legacy systems.
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