Speech Summaries

John Shewchuk .NET Architect Microsoft

Building Solutions With XML-Based Web Services

John Shewchuk, .NET Architect, Microsoft, discussed XML Web Services, and how issues like security are forcing those standards to evolve. He also talked about Microsoft's new Global XML Web Services Architecture (GXA) and how it will improve both security and routing issues, enabling companies to develop XML Web services more quickly and cost-effectively.

Although it is getting much easier today to build Web services, security is becoming a much bigger challenge. Companies need more "do-it-yourself" capabilities above the baseline standards, such as reliable messaging, secure transactions, and the ability to orchestrate all of these processes and services. There are also operational issues that must be addressed, such as monitoring, routing configurations, and managing multiparty business relationships.

So what's next? According to Mr. Shewchuk, it's Microsoft's Global XML Web Services Architecture. The purpose is to put a comprehensive architecture around .NET. GXA is a more flexible communication mechanism that offers higher performance and scalability across multiple organizations. GXA can also serve as a single architecture from the largest scale solution all the way down to the smallest devices, establishing a unified architecture going forward. Mr. Shewchuk believes that GXA will open new doors for businesses. By following actual business rules and processes, it can greatly increase the agility of your organization.

Finally, Mr. Shewchuk made a few recommendations. Companies must think about their business as a service; the software can take advantage of that to put the business together. Companies must use a flexible approach and expose all assets as XML Web services. Businesses must build skills, increase training, and get pilot projects going now, and also rethink systems integration spending.

Questions And Answers

Q: Why is Microsoft partnering so aggressively with IBM on these standards?
A: When we built our initial systems, there was only communication between MS solutions. We have customers who gave us good reason to go and find partnerships. And also there's a commitment to the standards organizations to make that work.

Q: On what is the standards commitment based?
A: It quickly became apparent that integration, and the ability to communicate, had become a critical factor. Standards make that communication possible. We internally don't see any other way to build solutions that enable communication.