Compared with the traditional method of connecting point solutions via an interface, which must be done from scratch each time a new application is introduced, or implementing a big suite of applications that requires a CIO to rip out existing applications, Web services can be a less complex and costly proposition, Schmitz says. Once one application has been exposed as Web services, those services can be accessed in a standard way by any other application and on any other platform. Thus, Web services allows IT executives to leverage what's already in place.

"One of the values people are seeing in Web services technology is that, unlike enterprise application software, it's an overlay on existing technology," Hagel says. "There's a much smaller investment required than when you're forcing people to implement all new applications."

Web services standards are still evolving and security remains an issue, but CIOs may be willing to make that trade-off for increased flexibility. "It's relatively new technology, but something like Web services is very attractive," says Steve Morelli, senior vice president of strategic planning, business development and IT for San Francisco-based Del Monte.

Schmitz predicts that more CIOs will eventually move to the component-based systems made possible by Web services. "As people begin to build out on an enterprise wide scale using best-of-breed technology in every category, they're going to achieve a level of reliability, flexibility and speed that the monolithic systems will never be able to achieve," he says.