Download Business applications of Web Services

Increasing Profitability by
Exposing or Consuming
XML Web Services
Phil Wolfe
Werner Enterprises
[email protected]
MCSD.NET, MCDBA, MCAD,
MCSD(VB6), MCT, MCP+SB
Agenda
Discussion
XML Web Services Overview
Internal applications of XML Web Services
External applications of XML Web
Services
Current XML Web Services in operation
Next Steps
Questions
XML Web Services Discussion
What do you know?
What have you heard?
What are your experiences?
What opportunities do you see?
What concerns do you have?
What will propel you to use XML web
services?
Agenda
Discussion
XML Web Services Overview
Internal applications of XML Web Services
External applications of XML Web
Services
Current XML Web Services in operation
Next Steps
Questions
XML Web Services Overview
What are XML Web Services
XML Web Services History
Standards Supporting XML Web Services
Companies Enabling XML Web Services
Organizations Using XML Web Services
What Are XML Web Services?
Formal Definition
– Exposing data using web standards in a
structured format
– Distributed computing using the web model
Natural evolution of your web site
Cutting through the Media hype and
criticism
Bottom Line
XML Web Services History
In the beginning there were many
vendors…and these vendors did not play
well with each other…and the customers
were very displeased
XML + HTTP + SOAP + Great Idea = XML
Web Services
See W3C or WhatIs.com site for more
information
XML Web Service Standards
Sending a letter
XML Web Service
ASCII Text
XML
SOAP
UDDI
WSDL
HTTP
Language
Message
Container
Discovery
Description
Transport
English
Letter
Envelope
Address Book
Address
USPS
WS-Security, DIME (www.oasis-open.org)
World Wide Web Consortium
(www.w3.org)
WS-I Group (www.ws-i.org)
XML Web Service Enablers
Current Adopters
Agenda
Discussion
XML Web Services Overview
Internal applications of XML Web Services
External applications of XML Web
Services
Current XML Web Services in operation
Next Steps
Questions
Internal Applications of Web
Services
Internal Application (App-to-App)
Legacy Integration
Database Interaction
Business Rules Reuse
Knowledge Worker Applications
Internal Benefits
Internal Applications
Home-grown LOB to new reporting
software
One vendor’s sales application to
another’s Business Intelligence
Use to ease migration
– ASP to ASP.NET, Cold Fusion to Java
Use for technologies that don’t normally
talk to each other
Legacy Integration
Think of your old sales/inventory/tracking/
accounting system
Most can read and write text files
A service could watch a directory for a file
and send/receive XML to/from a web
service
The web service could be the new system
replacing the old one or any other system
Database Interaction
Database makes the web service call
– Many databases now support calling web
services: SQL, Oracle, DB2, Informix
– They can call web service enabled
applications
Calling the database as a web service
– Some databases can accept SOAP messages
directly and return properly formatted XML
Business Rules Reuse
Where do you store your business rules
now?
– Stored Procedure, Objects, Code, Other
– Locked into that application or technology
What if they were in an XML web service?
– Callable by any technology and platform that
can call web services
– Now technology/database/platform doesn’t
matter
Knowledge Worker Applications
Ask yourself:
– Which applications do our employees use
concurrently?
– What features of one app could be exposed to
another app as an XML web service?
Excel Demo: Basic Database Lookup
Internal Benefits
Speedier migration and integration
Use existing investment in older systems
Databases can interact with non
homogeneous technologies
Simplified business rule management
Applications make more sense to
knowledge workers as they integrate
better
Agenda
Discussion
XML Web Services Overview
Internal applications of XML Web Services
External applications of XML Web
Services
Current XML Web Services in operation
Next Steps
Questions
External applications of XML Web
Services
Exposing our ability
Our Application, Our XML Web Service
Their Application, Our XML Web Service
External Benefits
Exposing our ability
Think of your core business processes.
Does it make sense to expose this to other
organizations?
Examples
– Transportation
– Insurance
Can it be done through XML web
services?
Our Application, Our Web Service
So, you have decided to charge for your
web service
You could require that the users use your
provided application to access the web
service.
As you update the web service the client
can discover those changes and update
itself as necessary.
Their Application, Our Web Service
You still own the process inside the web
service, this time the clients are
responsible for exposing the web service
to their users.
As you change the web service logic the
clients continue to work.
Major changes have to be coordinated
External Benefits
You are doing the work, why not generate
more revenue for it
The web service that may have been
created for internal use can be modified
for external customers in most cases
You can choose to write or not write the
client application
Agenda
Discussion
XML Web Services Overview
Internal applications of XML Web Services
External applications of XML Web
Services
Current XML Web Services in operation
Next Steps
Questions
Current XML Web Services
www.UDDI.org / uddi.Microsoft.com
Post Office – Address/Zip Lookup
FedEx – Package Lookup
Google.com - Searching
MapPoint.NET
Weather
Others…
Agenda
Discussion
XML Web Services Overview
Internal applications of XML Web Services
External applications of XML Web
Services
Current XML Web Services in operation
Next Steps
Questions
Next Steps
Research if our current technologies can
consume or expose XML web services
Experiment with some internal web
services that will save time and money in
the short term
Examine what processes could be
exposed to gain new customers as a long
term goal
Questions / Thoughts / Discussion
Thank you for attending
Phil Wolfe
[email protected]