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	Issue TOC Print full article Print this page Download as PDF E-Mail this URL Discuss this article Flame the author     In this article Introduction Too Good To Be True? Standards Watch Executive Summary How'd We Get Here? Evolution, Baby! Fatter Payloads, Bigger Bulge Epoll Results

The hype: Web services will revolutionize the way applications are built and deployed, both internally and externally, and will make customer and partner interactions seamless.

The reality: Web services hold much promise, and if you're not already on board, you will be eventually. But security fears are valid and must be addressed from the get-go. Competing standards implementations are also a concern.

In "Be Nimble, But Be Safe," we examine the key drivers of Web services adoption and tell you how to deal with standards and security worries. Easier application integration and smoother customer and partner interactions are strong incentives, but the ultimate reward is that SOAP can make your business processes as flexible as an Olympic gymnast.

In "Serving Up SOAP," we tested application servers and platforms from BEA Systems, Cape Clear Software, Iona Technologies, Novell, Sun Microsystems and Systinet that support enterprise, SOAP-based Web services. We looked for price, performance, standards--especially security standards--and interoperability (we tested each Web service against a .Net client, a Java client and a generic SOAP client using WSDL to access the service). Novell's Extend earned our Editor's Choice, thanks to its strong feature set and golden IDE. We also liked BEA's WebLogic, but its price and lack of support for security standards kept it in the silver-medal spot.