Web Services
Will Web Services Really Transform Collaboration?
McAfee's position of Web Services is pragmatic and balanced based on the many challenges that IBM has experienced in creating RosettaNet marketplace se, the far more challenging aspects of changing processes and behavior to adopt and use the applications developed on Web Services as well. McAfee also illustrates through example that Web Services may not necessarily be needed if processes within companies are efficient enough in their current state of manual, automated, or a blending of the two. Most refreshing in this article is that fact that the author does not automatically see endorse a "more is better" when it comes to the adoption of Web Services. Instead, McAfee endorses more of a focus on how Web Services can specifically create greater value by enabling a greater level of collaboration and integration across an enterprise.
RosettaNet being cited by the author as an example of an electronic trading standard being supported in marketplaces also sets the foundation for further analysis of where Web Services is working, and where it isn't. In the context of Rosettanet, the author discusses how PIPs are being used for managing content and order transactions across a supplier network. What is clear from the author's analysis is that RosettaNet can be relied on as a communications medium for suppliers collaborating with one another to increase overall supply chain transparency - a critical part of making an entire supply chain network more efficient. Second, the use of RosettaNet for order management transactions, which are critical for the economic functioning of the entire supplier network, have been proven to be the most often supported PIP of all. The author fails to mention this point yet points to the role of industry-specific standards as critical for the growth of online marketplaces. B2B e-commerce's evolving foundation based on Web Services is aligning to the most critical requirements and needs of enterprises, and these include validation of transactions, collaboration between suppliers and customers, and the need for higher levels of velocity at both a content management and order management layer of the networks being developed, supported and grown.
