The Essential Guide to Web Services

Using the switchboard example, in order for people to communicate overthe phone, parties on both ends need to agree to use standardtelephones, answer their phones when they ring and speak the samelanguage. Web services standards perform similar functions.

The most important of these standard software technologies is XML, orextensible markup language (yes, it is a three-letter acronym, butit's probably one of the most important ones for a business executiveto know these days). XML is a way of describing data that masks thedifferences between disparate software systems and lets themunderstand each other; think of it as the Esperanto of the computerbusiness. For Web services to work, both sides need to be able tospeak XML.

One important thing to remember is that Web services aren't used tobuild new systems from scratch. Rather, they're a tool to use withexisting computer systems that you want to stitch together to createsomething new. "You still need your customer relationship managementapplication, your core database, your application servers," says EvanQuinn, chief analyst at the Hurwitz Group, a consultancy inFramingham, Mass. "You still need to have a good infrastructure andrich computing resources. If you don't, Web services aren't going todo much in the business world." So don't ask your CIO if he can usethis newfangled Web services stuff to build you a sales-forcemanagement system. Ask him if he can use it to let your newsales-force management system tap in to information from the accountsreceivable system so that sales reps can find out whether theircustomers actually pay their bills.