Web Services Interoperability Organization Accelerating Web Services Adoption February 6, 2002

The Context Businesses need to innovate at an ever increasing pace Business success requires broad interoperability Within an enterprise Between business partners Across a heterogeneous set of platforms, applications, and programming languages Internet technologies are assumed, interoperability is required Integration across platforms, applications, and programming languages is key. Web services provides the foundation to make it happen.

The Context The shift to Web services is underway An Internet-native distributed computing model based on XML standards has emerged Early implementations are solving problems today and generating future requirements The Web services standards stack is increasing in size and complexity to match functionality requirements The fundamental characteristic of Web services is interoperability Assumes consistency across platforms, applications, and programming languages The Web services specification stack continues to evolve quickly. The industry is expected to provide guidance at a rapid pace.

Challenges “[the] Architecture of Web services is not fully crystallized. Without guidance, standards may fragment” Gartner Group, March 12, 2001 Part of the problem is that even at this early stage, Web services have more faces than Fu Manchu. . . . Inevitably, companies involved with Web services will define them in their own way. The term Web services will be a messy catchall phrase. Intelligent Enterprise, June 29, 2001 “It’s standards…that allow Web services to overcome the barriers of different programming languages, operating systems, and vendor platforms so multiple applications can interact.” eWeek, August 13, 2001 Challenges remaining are well understood throughout the industry. Both press and analysts have identified the need to come together and provide consistent guidance.

Opportunity: Accelerate Adoption ? More rapid progress on Web service interoperability accelerates adoption and market impact. Web Services: Standards-based integration and interoperability across platforms, applications, and programming languages

What is Needed? Guidance Interoperability Implementation guidance and support for Web services adoption A common definition for Web services Interoperability Across platforms, applications, and programming languages Consistent, reliable interoperability between Web services technologies from multiple vendors A standards integrator to help Web services advance in a structured, coherent manner A ‘standards integrator’ is needed to provide consistent guidance for Web services implementations.

Industry initiative for Web services Interoperability Organization Industry initiative for Web services Open to any organization committed to Web services Promote and accelerate adoption, deployment Focused on promoting Web service interoperability Across platforms, applications, and programming languages Promote a common, clear definition for Web services Promote customer adoption & deployment Integrate specifications from standards bodies Implementation guidance & tools for customers building and deploying Web services WS-I –a broad-based industry initiative focussed on promoting web services interoperability and providing customers w/ tools and support for implementing Web Services.

WS-I.org Deliverables Profiles Implementation Scenarios Named groups of specifications at given version levels with conventions about how they work together Implementation Scenarios Solution scenarios based on customer requirements Test suites and supporting materials Sample solutions Implementation aids Conformance testing tools Supporting documentation and white papers Profiles group specifications to address specific types of Web services Scenarios are defined to exercise features of the profile specifications Testing materials provide samples and implementation aids for everyone developing Web services.

Conventions and Best Practices WS-I.org Profiles Profile Provide guidance on general purpose Web services functionality Address interoperability at a level above specification-by-specification Supporting specifications and standards will be considered from multiple industry sources Profile development will reflect market needs and requirements Links to Specs Conventions and Best Practices Profiles group XML specifications and provide guidance on their implementation.

WS-I.org Scenarios Scenarios Test Input and Resources Within a given Profile, a set of simple Web services are defined used to exercise a specific set of functionality within a profile Test Input and Resources Identified issues become test/compliance cases for future activity, and are incorporated into supporting tools Implementation guidance and source code will be available Guidance is consistent across all the WS-I Working Groups Scenarios define specific Web services to be implemented Think of these as specifications for sample applications The implementations provide input into test criteria and other necessary guidance

WS-I.org Test Activity Test Materials Sample Applications Developed by Working Groups to test Web service implementations and detect errors Final materials available to all Web service developers Based on the Profiles adopted by the organization Sample Applications Working Group members implement the scenarios and identify interoperability issues Implementations are developed with multiple platforms, tools, and programming languages Source code for the implementations will be available Provide implementation guidance to Web service developers Test materials are used by anyone to verify Web service implementations

WS-I.org Test Activity Test Resources: Monitoring tools (“Sniffer”) will be provided to collect Web service message traces and generate a log for subsequent analysis Analysis tools (“Analyzer”) examine traces for correctness and use of recommended practices Output of analysis tools is used as a basis for WS-I compliance claims Tools are intended for use by any Web service developer Source code will be available Resources are provided to trace messages and analyze the interaction for implementation errors

WS-I.org Compliance Vendors or Web services providers will be self-certifying, with an expected review by competitors and trade press The logo/name can be used in connection with products or implementations that have successfully passed testing WS-I members have no obligation to police compliance and WS-I has limited enforcement options Members agree not to adopt or use a name, logo or mark that is confusingly similar to the approved logo/name Compliance is self-certified by the Web service implementers.

Call to action: Join WS-I Leadership and Commitment Participate in a community of industry leaders and visionaries with a shared vision for Web services interoperability Foster commitment across the community Participation Build customer participation and buy-in Commit to an aggressive development schedule focused on delivering resources and guidelines for Web service implementations The WS-I launch is intended to demonstrate the industry commitment to addressing Web services interoperability needs, and communicate our desire to quickly provide the guidance that customers are demanding.