Web services are like your local auto repair shop. You don't want to do
business with them until you have a clear idea of the level of service you
can expect. Despite the many advantages of these new, standards-based
systems, they will not become core business assets without capabilities for
gauging and controlling their quality of service (QoS) attributes.
Consider the example of a manufacturer that uses internal Web services for
order fulfillment as well as extranet Web services to automatically replenish
its inventory. To make informed decisions about order fulfillment, the
manufacturer needs current and comprehensive information on the services and
systems consumed by its inventory Web service. Is the warehouse management
service running when inventory updates are needed? How long do suppliers'
services take to respond with a promise date? How should service prob... (more)
Working with service-oriented applications is a lot like doing your taxes
because: there's really no avoiding it, you need to keep track of a number of
different factors, you must maintain a record of data to protect against
audits and plan for the future, and you'd better catch any mistakes or you'll
have a problem on your hands faster than you can spell "SOA."
Unless you implement management and monitoring capabilities for your loosely
coupled system, you expose yourself to any number of potential issues that
can cripple a production SOA application. Worse yet, you might unleash... (more)
Web services are starting to show dividends. After years of hype, this
flexible approach to integrating disparate business systems is taking root in
corporate IT, where it is enabling organizations to exploit new business
channels quickly and cost-effectively. In large part this is due to the
ratification of many Web services standards. Additionally, tools such as
Visual Studio .NET have greatly simplified the tasks of building and
deploying Web services. You can now write code, build a Web service, package
it, and deploy it into the local container with consummate ease – and all... (more)
Fred Carter is the chief run-time architect for AmberPoint, a provider of Web services management software. Prior to AmberPoint, Fred was the architect and technical lead for EAI products at Forte, a role he continued at Sun Microsystems. Prior to Forte, he held several technical leadership positions at Oracle, where he designed distributed object services for interactive TV, online services, and content management.
Scott Sellers
Anthony Franco
Daniel Morris
Wayne Walls
Niki Acosta
Jereme Hancock
Oren Michels
Marvin Wheeler
Douglas Kim
