Unfortunately, Web services still don't address security or reliability very well. Web services, whether based on J2EE (Java 2 platform, Enterprise Edition) or Microsoft .Net, all take advantage of XML, which is transported between applications via SOAP. The SOAP standard, which describes how Web services are exposed and accessed, is verbose. As the number of Web services-enabled applications in your infrastructure grows, you can expect resources to work harder than ever to maintain acceptable performance. Because the standard addresses neither security nor reliability, exposing your business functions is an all-or-nothing proposition.
Markets are emerging from the security in Web services, and an abundance of solutions to the security and reliability problems will be available next year, though the field is too new for us to name any front-runners. Cape Clear Software, Blue Titan Software, Actional Corp. and even Check Point Software Technologies offer products that provide Web services security and management, and additional offerings are due in coming months.
You'll also need to take a stand on your platform--and soon. Will you use .Net or one of the many J2EE offerings such as Sun Microsystems' ONE? As with any choice that involves developers, a holy war of splendiferous proportions is already brewing. A J2EE offering has many advantages, of course. Many vendors have products, and a host of tools is available. A .Net environment locks you into a single vendor and substantially limits your choices in terms of vendor and platform support, but the development environment and languages are familiar to most developers, making it attractive in terms of training and time to deploy. It's also difficult for J2EE-based solutions to compete with the ease of development and deployment offered by Microsoft products.
While external software components such as Web services are unlikely to be integrated into your internal development efforts any time soon, the internal use of Web services for intranet portals and integration efforts will become not only acceptable but expected. And if you haven't begun to seriously evaluate Web services as a part of your architecture, you'll need to do so next year, particularly for new applications.
Web services, along with failure of CRM deployments to achieve claimed ROI, is energizing the outsourced CRM market. ASP-based CRM offerings such as Salesforce.com and UpShot are using Web services to integrate their outsourced CRM applications with Microsoft Outlook to provide more robust functionality and features. With the CRM debacle of the past year, it may be wise to consider an outsourced solution. Web services has enabled such solutions to provide the lower total cost of ownership required without sacrificing functionality.
Integration efforts are always an issue in the enterprise, and that's not about to change. Most applications need technologies that let disparate systems communicate or share data. You can implement Web services to dramatically reduce the time spent on integration; however, those new products require upgrades and, in many cases, infrastructure changes.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
