Sebastopol, CA--The buzz about web services gets louder every day. Is it just the latest hype, or is the promise of the Web finally going to be fulfilled with this new class of internet-native applications? Planning for Web Services, the latest report from O'Reilly Research, provides a realistic appraisal of web services' current state and future prospects. Written by noted author and consultant Clay Shirky, the report's plainspoken, impartial analysis guides readers through a strategic evaluation of web services technology. "Planning for Web Services" lays out critical technical and business issues and takes a hard look at web services' potential to lower costs, increase interoperability, and boost efficiency.
In "Planning for Web Services," Shirky defines the scope of web services, then looks at how they are being implemented today and where and how they're likely to take hold in the near future. Topics include:
- How web services can replace EDI (Electronic Document Interchange)
- Using web services as middleware to create network-aware applications with RPC
- Advantages and hurdles to implementing web services on intranet, extranet, and public internet sites
More than thirty of the key players in this emerging sector are profiled in the report, from major tech companies like Sun, IBM, and Microsoft to startups that are driving much of the innovation in web services. "Planning for Web Services" concludes with a straightforward checklist of the strategic issues and questions every IT decision-maker should answer before committing to web services.
Additional Resources:
Planning for Web Services:
An O'Reilly Research Report
By Clay Shirky
May 2002
0-596-00364-1, Order Number: 3641
150 pages, $495.00 US
About the Author
Clay Shirky has shaped and chronicled the evolution of web services since their inception. A popular speaker, consultant, and prolific writer, Shirky focuses on the economic and social effects of the Internet. A former columnist for "Business 2.0," his writings have also appeared in the "New York Times," the "Wall Street Journal," the "Harvard Business Review," and the O'Reilly Network.
About O’Reilly
O’Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O’Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying “faint signals” from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.