A Framework to assess the value of web services

Rochester Institute of Technology

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2003

A Framework to assess the value of web services

Robert Campbell

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Rochester Institute of Technology

B. Thomas Golisano College

of

Computing and Information Sciences

Master of Science in Information Technology

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Student Name:

Project Title:

Robert G. Campbell

A Framework to Assess the Value of Web Services

Thesis Committee

Name

Prof. Jeffrey A. Lasky

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Thesis Reproduction Permission Form

Rochester Institute of Technology

B. Thomas Golisano College

of

Computing and Information Sciences

Master of Science in Information Technology

A Framework to Assess the Value of Web

Services

Copyright

2003

Robert

G.

Campbell

Rochester

Institute

of

Technology

A Framework

to

Assess

the

Value

of

Web

Services

Thesis

December

12,

2003

Abstract: Largeorganizations oftenbegintoadopt new softwaretechnologiespriorto

establishingappropriatevalueframeworks. Thisapproach_mayproduce sub-optimalinvestment

decisions and

technology

adoption_rates, andintroduceexcessive risk. Inthis

thesis,

a value-based framework is developed for_assessingtheimpactofWeb Services

technology

investments onbusinesssystems development. Thevaluefactors includedintheframeworkare data

management, applicationdevelopmentand

deployment,

system

integration,

and responsetime to

Acknowledgements

TheauthorisgratefultoProfessor

Jeffrey Lasky

forhiscontributionsto thedevelopmentofthis thesis.

Also,

theauthor wouldliketothankProfessors MichaelAxelrodandSteven Zilora for

TableofContents

1

ORGANIZATION

& DEFINITIONS 9

1.1 Organization 9

1.2 Definitions 9

2 THE POTENTIAL 11

3 LITERATUREREVIEW 16

3.1 The RelevanceofValue 16

3.2 The AlignmentofIT InvestmentswithBusiness

Strategy

18

3.3 The

Growing

ImportanceofWeb Services andService-Oriented Architectures 18

3.4 Web ServicesTechnologies 19

3.5 Areasof

Opportunity

for

Implementing

Web Services 20

3.5.1 DataManagement 20

3.5.2 System Integration 21

3.5.3 Application DevelopmentandDeployment 21

3.5.4 Response Time 22

4 BACKGROUND 23

4.1 Web Servicesemergence 23

4.2 XML 26

5.1.1 Theframework 30

5.1.2

Identifying

value withintheframework 30

5.1.2.1 Cost Benefits 31

5.1.2.2 Revenue Opportunities 31

5.1.3 Opportunities 32

5.1.3.1 Data Management 32

5.1.3.2 System Integration 32

5.1.3.3 Application Development & Deployment 33

5.1.3.4 Response Time 33

6 ANALYSIS 35

6.1 Datamanagement 35

6.1.1 Technicalanalysis 35

6.1.1.1 Background 35

6.1.1.2 _{Data accessibility} 39

6.1.1.3 Datatransformation 42

6.1.1.4 Datasemantics 43

6.1.1.5 Contentmanagement 46

6.1.2 _{Benefits summary} 48

6.2 System integration 51

6.2.1 Technicalanalysis 52

6.2.1.1 Service-Oriented Architectures

(SOA)

52

6.2.1.2 Platformindependence 55

6.2.1.3 WebServices anddistributed_computing 56

6.2.1.4 Just-in-time integration 57

6.2.1.5 Vendor-supplied Web Servicesframeworks 59

6.2.1.6 Web Servicesmanagement 59

6.2.1.7

Legacy

systems 60

6.2.2 _{Benefits summary} 62

6.3 Applicationdevelopment&deployment 66

6.3.1 Technicalanalysis 66

6.3.1.2 Application deployment 69

6.3.1.3 Use ofbest inclass capabilities 69

6.3.1.4 ReducedITresource requirements 70

6.3.1.5 Development_outsourcing 71

6.3.1.6 Serviceaggregation withintheenterprise 72

6.3.2 Benefits _summary 73

6.4 Responsetime 77

6.4.1 Technical analysis 78

6.4.1.1 Background 78

6.4.1.2 Reducedtime-to-market_{in existing}market

segments'

80

6.4.1.3 Newbusinessmodels and_emergingmarketopportunities 84

6.4.1.4 Reducedbarriersto_entry 85

6.4.1.5

Leveraging

_existingintellectualassets 86

6.4.1.6 Integrationof mergers and acquisitions 86

6.4.1.7 Responseto_regulatoryrequirements 87

6.4.1.8 Compliancewith verticalandhorizontal

industry

standards 89

6.4.1.9 Focusonbusinessprocesses 89

6.4.2 _{Benefits summary} 91

7 OBSTACLES TO WEB SERVICES IMPLEMENTATION 94

7.1

Primary

obstacles 94

7.1.1 WebServices

Security

94

7.1.2 Orchestrationoftransactionsandbusinessprocesses 94

7.2 Otherobstacles 95

8 CONCLUSIONS 99

APPENDIX A- ACRONYMS 102

APPENDIX B

-RESOURCES 104

Figures

Figure 2.1 - The Value

Framework 12

Figure2.2

-AMore CompleteValue Framework 13

Figure2.3 - WebServices

adoptiontimeline 14

Figure4.1 - U.S. Web Services

project_spending

by

IT_segment,2002-2014 23

Figure 4.2- SOA

components 25

Figure 4.3 - Core WebServices

operations 28

Figure 5.1

-The Value Framework 30

Figure 6.1 - Files _systemsdata

storage 36

Figure 6.2 - DBMS data

storage 37

Figure 6.3 - Corporate database

systems 38

Figure 6.4- Content

management systems 47

Figure6.5 - Services_grid 53

Figure 8.1

Tables

Table 4.1 - Range_ofWeb

Services'

applicability 24

Table 5.1 - Detail_ofissuestobe_evaluated 33

Table 6.1.1

-Costbenefitstodatamanagement 48

Table 6.1.2

-Businessvaluetodatamanagement 49

Table6.2.1

-Costbenefitstosystemintegration 62

Table 6.2.2- Business

valuetosystemintegration 64

Table 6.3.1

-Cost benefitstoapplicationdevelopmentanddeployment 73

Table6.3.2 - Business

valuetoapplicationdevelopmentanddeployment 75

Table 6.4.1 -Web Servicesavailable fromthirdparties 83

Table 6.4.2

-Regulatory

requirements

impacting

ITinfrastructure 87

Table6.4.3- Business

1 Organization & Definitions

1.1 Organization

Thisthesis isorganized as follows:

Chapter2provides adescriptionofthe technical andbusiness_opportunitythatWeb

Services affords enterprises.

Chapter3 contains a_surveyofrelevantliteratureused inthedevelopmentofthisthesis. Chapter4provides abackgroundonWeb Servicesconcepts andtechnologies to

establish atechnical frameworkforthisanalysis.

Chapter5 introducesthe_methodologyusedinthisthesisto*

examinethevalue

contribution ofWeb Servicesto theenterprise.

Chapter 6 containsthedetailedanalysis and assessment of costbenefitsand revenue

opportunities associatedwith

implementing

Web Services. Impactstofour

key

areas are examined: data_management,system

integration,

applicationdevelopmentand

deployment,

and responsetime.

Chapter 7 summarizes current obstaclesto_realizingthefullpotential valueto the

enterprise of

implementing

WebServices.

Chapter 8presentstheconclusionsdrawn fromtheresearch and analysis presentedin

this thesis.

Appendix Aprovides a_summaryofthe_meaningof acronyms usedinthis thesis.

Appendix Bprovides alistof general resourcesfor further informationonWeb Services.

The

Bibliography

provides a completelistofliterature and articles referencedinthe

Services grid

-Thecomposition of

technology

components andbusinessprocessesthat affordsthe_opportunitytocreate economic value

by

_respondingtounanticipatedbusiness opportunities (Hagel&

Brown,

2002b).

Value framework

-Aframeworkwithin whichthebusinessvalue(cost benefits and revenue_{opportunities)} of a specificinvestment _strategycanbeexamined

(Boehm,

2003).

Web Services andService-Oriented Architecture

(SOA)

- "Web

Servicesisa

technology

thatallows applications tocommunicate with each otherinaplatform and programming language-independentmanner. A Web Service isa softwareinterfacethat

describes a collectionofoperationsthatcanbeaccessed overthenetworkthroughstandardized XMLmessaging. ItusesprotocolsbasedontheXMLlanguagetodescribeanoperationto execute ordatatoexchangewith anotherWebservice.A groupofWeb Services

interacting

2 The Potential

Web Services technologies comprise a serviceinteroperationarchitecturewhere

components provide a real-timedescriptionoftheservices

they

provideand

dynamically

connect toformadistributedapplication

(IDC,

2003b). Servicearchitectures use standard protocols for

contentdescriptionand_messagingandsothepotentialimpact ofWeb Servicesisvast.

Many

believeWeb Servicesrepresentsthenexttechnicalwave of architecture

drivers,

and willimpact

future ITinfrastructures onthe same scale asdid client/serverarchitectures inthe 1980sand 1990s.

Inthecorporate_community,

technology

investments suchasWeb Services oughttobe

examined

by

senior managers with respectto the expected valuethateachinvestmentwill yield.

However,

in Software Economics: A

Roadmap,

BoehmandSullivan

(2000)

arguethat the

primaryreasonforthelackof a clear connectionbetween suchinvestments insoftware and systems andvaluecreationis the"lackof adequateframeworksfor_{modeling,measuring}and analyzing"

investmentdecisions.

Therefore,

inordertomakeanadequate value-based

assessmentofinvestment in Web Services

technologies,

wemustfirstestablishtheframework within whichthatassessment canbeconducted.

Reducing

overall costshas

traditionally

beena

key

factorin

determining

thevalue ofIT

investmentsand shouldbeincluded intheframework. Costreductionalone

however,

isan incompletemeasureofthevalueofsoftware investments (Boehm &

Sullivan,

2000). All

investments,

including

IT

investments,

shouldbeconsideredinthebroadercontext ofbusiness

[image:16.562.117.484.129.373.2]

Figure 2.1 - The Value Framework

BUSINESS VALUE

Cos1 Benefits RevenueOpportunities

DataManagement

0 R T U N / J Y

SysfsmIntegration

Appfication Development andDeployment

Response Tims

J

While

taking

intoaccountbothrevenue opportunities aswellas costbenefitsrepresents a more completevalueframeworkthan_assessingcostbenefits_alone, we acknowledgethat this

frameworkdoesnot addressothercomponents ofbusinessvaluethatcouldbeconsidered. For

example, onecomponentofbusinessvalue thatisnotaddressed

by

thisframework isthevalue of_{making IT investments} tocreatestrategic advantage

(Luftman,

Lewis &

Oldach,

1993). Not

all investmentsin

technology

areintendedtoreducecosts or generateimmediaterevenue. Some are intendedtocreatestrategicadvantagesthatdrive future businessvalue.

Furthermore,

a more completevalue frameworkcouldbepresented

by

_addressingmore areas of_opportunity,ofwhich

therearemany.

Therefore,

he

following

diagram_mayrepresent a more complete value

[image:17.563.69.511.158.422.2]

Figure 2.2

-A MoreComplete ValueFramework

BUSINESS VALUE

0 P P 0 R T U N t T Y

Co&t Benefits RevenueOpportunities SiriitagieAdvantage

Data Management ft 1 1

1

-

1

1

System Integration

1

1

1

AppBcatiiin Dw3laprniit 1 andDeployment

Response lime

1

1

1

Otbw Opportunities

Nevertheless,

thescope ofthisthesiswillbelimitedto_{searching for}costbenefitsand

revenue opportunitiesintheareas ofdata_management,system

integration,

application developmentand

deployment,

and response

time;

i.e. wewillbe usingthe frameworkas

proposedin Figure 2.1.

opportunities.This integrationof value considerations intosoftwareinvestmentdecisions

enables a more comprehensive recognition ofthepotential valuecontributionsofWeb Services

(Boehm&

Guo,

2003).

(Atthe timeof_{this writing, the} eventuallevelof acceptance and adoptionofWeb

Servicestechnologiesremains uncertain.The rate at whichthesetechnologiesareadoptedwill

depend_greatlyon a number offactors

including

thematuration of proposed_{standards, the}

availabilityof commercialized

tools,

the_availabilityofindividualswithappropriate skill

levels,

economic conditions and patterns ofITinvestment forenterprisesingeneral. IDChasproposed

theWeb Servicesadoptiontimelinedepictedinfigure2.3 below. Itprojects

that,

giventhe

conditions whentheIDCreportwas written

(2002),

wewill not see widespread _availabilityof

WebServices offeringsbefore2005. NotethatIDCdefines "Contained ExternalUsers" as

[image:18.562.119.476.347.539.2]

businesspartners, suppliers, or major customers

(IDC,

2002).)

Figure 2.3- Web Services

adoptiontimeline

*A

^

f

?j>s

Y ? ? ? ? ? Y T ?

2002

Within

the

firewall

2004

Contained

external

users

2006 2008

Fullydynamicsearch and use

Source:_IDC,2002

The expectedbenefitsofWeb Services described

herein,

andtheassociatedvalue-based

contributionstothe enterprisearedependenton

broad,

industry-wide acceptanceofWeb

Servicestechnologiesand standards across enterprises. Withthatinmind, the

following

Hypothesis

Business justification for

investing

in Web Servicestechnologiescan

be basedonthe expectationthat these technologieswillcontributebusiness

3 Literature Review

3.1 The RelevanceofValue

Thisthesisfocuseson_assessingthevalue ofIT

investments,

and_specificallythevalue of

investmentsin Web Servicestechnologies.Thispresumesthatwe candefinevalueas itpertains

toWeb

Services,

andthat thenotion ofvalueis relevanttosuchinvestments.

InhisarticleFundamentals of

Value,

Sawhney (2003)

assertsthat the definitionofvalue shouldbeconsideredtobecontextual.Thevalue of

technology

is notindependentfromthe

contextinwhichit isused.Withoutathorough_{understanding}ofthebusinesscontextand

implications of a

technology investment,

thereisarisk of_creatingvaluepropositions thatarenot relevantforcustomers. Whenthebusiness contextiswell_understood,valuecanbe

defined,

created anddeliveredtocustomers. Inaddition

Sawhney

arguesthat thevalueofIT investments shouldbe definednotintermsoffeaturesand

functionality

butratherintermsof whatitcando forcustomers.

"Value,"

hesays"is defined

by

those...whopay for it".

We definevalue intermsofrevenue opportunities andcostbenefits as showninthe

frameworkofferedin Section 2. This frameworkprovidesthecontextfor

linking

businessvalue

(andvaluepropositionsforthe_customer) toIT infrastructures.

Furthermore,

by defining

value in

part as revenue opportunities,webuildonSawhney'sassertionthat(Web

Services)

investments

shouldbe

directly

linkedto theneeds ofcustomers andthatsuchinvestmentsresultinnew revenueopportunities.

Britt,

ofthe IBM Institute for Business

Value,

_says,"Consultantshave

long

proclaimed

theneedforstrategic alignmentbetweenbusiness andIT: Setyourbusiness _strategy,andthen

determine how

technology

canhelp.

Unfortunately,

traditionalalignment approaches inviterisk

andleaveopportunities untapped. Higherreturns canbeachievedthroughahigher degreeof

strategic alignment thefusionofbusinessandIT". Like

Sawhney,

BrittarguesthatIT investmentcan_onlycreate valueto theextentthatitis _carefullyaligned withthe enterprise's business strategy

(Britt,

2002).

This focuson value isa_recurringtheme_{in many}

leading

publications

focusing

on

businessand

technology

leadership. Andcreationof valueis _{commonly linked}to_makingcertain

thateachand_{every investment}thatanenterprise makes supportsboththebusiness_strategyof

theenterpriseandcustomer needs. "Valueisnota synonymforprofit",suggests

Moneypenny

is customerdefinedand customer

focused,

butatits coreisthe_{inherent ability}tomeeta

customer need

(Sawhney,

2003).

JohnHagelIII andJohn

Seeley

Brownhaveauthored a numberof articles _addressingthe

value ofWeb Services in_{supporting business}objectives (Hagle &

Brown, 2001; 2002a;

2002b).

Most notably,in

Orchestrating

Business Processes

-Harnessing

the _{Value of Web Services}

Technology, they

describe howIT investmentsinWeb Servicestechnologiescanbe leveragedto

directly

support

key

businessprocessestocreate customer value.Theirconclusions are similarto

Sawhney,

Brittand others: that

technology

canbea significant enablerin_respondingtobusiness

opportunities, andthatITmanagers and organizations_playa

key

role in_enablingenterprisesto

realize economic value fromWeb Servicesinvestments.

John Hagleprovidesthemost comprehensivetreatment todate ofthebusiness impactof

Web Services in his book Out oftheBox_{(2002a). Hagle specifically}addresses strategies for

achievingprofitsthroughWebServices as well as_enablingopportunitiesfor futuregrowth. He

arguesthatWeb Services

technology

will_playa major role in creatingand

delivering

business value

by

_addressingthreebusiness/technicalchallenges

facing

enterprisestoday:

"Distribution of centers of

control"

-As business processesbecomemore

complex, andthenumberofbusinesspartners

increases,

theassumptionof a single point of controlbecomes

increasingly

unrealistic.

"Diversity

of

technology

platforms" - Given

the

decreasing

existenceof

single points of_{control, there}is a_growing

diversity

of

technology

platforms

thatmustbeconnectedintheprocess of_assemblingbusinesscapabilitiesto

deliverproducts and services.

"Dynamicenvironment"

-According

to

Hagle,

business conditions are

changingatan ever

increasing

pace and enterprises needtobeableto_quickly

services_grid, a conceptthatistargeted toward_enablingfuturegrowth as opposedto_capturing

immediaterevenues and profits.

Hagel'sdiscussionoftheimmediateopportunitiesfor_capturingvalue

(profits)

through

thepragmatic adoption ofWeb Servicestechnologies

directly

supportsthehypothesisofthis

thesis.Hepresents thepathtaken

by

_earlyadopters such asDellaswellastheirmotivation and

theresults thathave beenachieved. Hagelprovides extensive support for hisargumentthat_early

implementations ofWeb Services shouldfocuson

leveraging

_existing

technology infrastructure,

incremental

implementation,

tangible _{earlysuccesses,} and_{extensibility}overtime.

Barry

Boehmisa

leading

proponent ofavalue-based perspectiveonsoftware

engineering.

According

to

Boehm,

while_{many IT}projectsare implementedsuccessfully, the

valuederived islessthanexpectedbecausebusiness objectives were

incorrectly

anticipated

(Boehm, 2003),

(Boehm&

Sullivan, 2000),

(Boehm &

Guo,

2003).

Again,

valuegenerationis dependenton an alignment oftechnical _strategyandinvestmentwithbusiness objectivesand

customer needs.

IDC,

workingwithIBM

Corporation,

publishedawhitepaperentitledIBMandthe Strategic Potential of Web Services:

Assessing

the Customer Experience. Theirfindingssupport

theimportanceof_consideringvaluegenerationwithrespecttoITinvestments.

They

foundthat

"theuse ofWebservices enhancesbusinessvalue

by

_reducingthe timeandcosttolaunch

applications ... potentially,

increasing

revenue"

(IDC,

2003b).

3.2 TheAlignmentofITInvestmentswithBusiness Strategy

Toalarge_{extent, this thesis}attemptstoestablisha connectionbetween Web Services

technology

andvalue creationfortheenterprise.

Britt,

oftheIBM Institute for Business

Value,

underscorestheimportanceof_{aligning business}objectives _{(value creation)}andIT investmentin

Multiplying

Business Value: The Fusion ofBusinessand

Technology

(2002). Luftman et al.

(1993)

provide furtherevidenceoftheimportance ofthisalignmentin

Transforming

the Enterprise: _{The Alignment ofBusiness}andInformation

Technology

Strategies.

3.3 The GrowingImportanceofWeb Servicesand_{Service-Oriented Architectures}

Whilethefull impactofWeb Services cannot yetbe_assessed, ITorganizationsare

taking

hardware,

software andintegration_spendingonWeb Services is

increasing

(IDC,

2003a).

Furthermore,

there is evidencethatmajor players intheIT domainare

taking

Web Services

seriously. For example, IBM lists nofewerthan

forty

_emergingWeb Servicestechnologies on

theirdeveloperWorks

web _site,

including

severalimplementationsofSOAP andUDDI.

They

providetoolkits_{for generating} WSDLandfor_evaluatingtheperformance ofWeb Service

implementations.

Many

ofthe technologies listedareintendedto

help

_earlyadopters ofWeb

Service_{technologies to create,}

define,

discoverandintegrate services. In_addition,IBM

researchershaverecognizedthe_overarchingsignificance of

SOA,

andthatthepotential importanceofWeb Servicesgoesfar beyondtheindividualcapabilities. In hisarticle entitled

The Tao ofeBusiness_{Services: The Evolution of Web Applications Into Service-Oriented}

Componentswith Web

Services,

Burbeck

(2002)

_clearlyarticulatestheimportanceof

approaching Web Services fromthearchitectural perspective.

Otherpublicationshave movedbeyondtheinitialhype ofWeb Servicestechnologies to

emphasizetheimportanceofthose technologies_{in creating}valuefortheenterprise.

Among

them

are(Hagel&

Brown, 2001), (IDC, 2003b),

and

(Hagel,

2002b).

In (Hagel &

Brown,

2002a)

theauthors focus ontheeconomic propositions

driving

the

implementationofWeb

Services,

providingadescriptionofhowthepragmatic implementation

ofWeb Servicestechnologiescanadd valueto the enterprise. Moschella

(2003)

documentsthose

aspects ofITinfrastructurethatcanimprove customerfocus.HagelandBrown

(2001)

describe

theissuesaddressed

by

WebServices and proposethebasis fora strategic approachto

introducing

Web Services into ITorganizations.

The March 2003 issue of ACM'

s Queue Magazineprovides adetailedexamination of Web Services andtheopportunities

they

present. Inthis

issue,

Arsanjani,

et al. lookatthe

W3C isresponsibleforthedevelopment of common protocolsthatpromotetheevolution

oftheWeband ensureits interoperability.

XML,

SOAPandWSDLaredescribedinthework

products oftheW3C (www.w3c.org).

AdditionalbackgroundmaterialforWeb Services isfound in

(Barry,

2002).

Barry

provides ahigh leveldescriptionofthe technologiesandissuesin ordertoprepare organizations

fortheimplementationofWeb Services.

Barry

suggests thatWeb Services are_goingto

"fundamentally

changethe_waywebuild ourinternalsystems

-theinformationsystemsthat

support our organizations

-andhowourinternalsystems interactwith external systems".An additional resource usedtocompilebackgroundmaterialfor Web Services is

(Newcomer,

2002).

Burbank'sarticle describestheimportantarchitectural conceptsbehind Web

Services,

anddescribesthemasthebasisof a new set of_organizingprincipleswithinthe enterprise(2002). Burbeckmakestheimportant observationthat the termSOAshouldbereservedfor

"architecturesthatfocusonhowservices aredescribedand organizedtosupporttheir

dynamic,

automated

discovery

and use".

Withrespectto

SOA,

HagleandBrownagainhavebeen instrumental in

describing

the

needfor

thinking

ofWeb Services intermsoftheevolutionofITarchitectures. Intheir publicationService Grids: The

Missing

Linkin Web

Services,

they

assertthatadistributed

servicesarchitecture is necessary before Web Services

technology

canbe widelydeployed. The IBM Systems Journal_article,"IntroductiontoWebServicesArchitecture"

provides bothanintroductiontoimportantarchitectural concepts relatedtoWeb

Services,

aswellas

examples ofbusinessscenariostowhichthe technologiescanbeapplied(Gottschalket al.).

Placing

theWeb Servicetechnologies inthecontextof a specificbusiness situation provides a higherlevel of_clarityand_{understanding}ofpossibleapplications

(Gottschalk, Graham,

Kreger&

Snell,

2002).

3.5 AreasofOpportunityforImplementing Web Services

3. 5. 1 Data Management

The issuesrelatedtodatamanagementin IT organizations are

described

by

Applegateetal. in

(Applegate, McFarlan,

&

McKenney, 1996), (Applegate,

McFarlan,

&

forITinformationarchitectures. Thesedatamanagementissues continuetoberelevant

regardless oftheIT technologies andinfrastructures inplace. Web Services_maydrivethe next wave of architectural principles within_{the enterprise,}but_existing

legacy

data

repositoriesinplace mustbe_carefullyconsidered when_creating SOA_usingthesenew technologies.

The datamanagement analysis relies

heavily

onCoyle(2002). Thistextprovides a comprehensivedescriptionofthedatamanagementissues

facing

largerenterprisesand howXMLandWeb Serviceswilladdressthem. Inadditiontothese text references, a

number of

industry

reports and opinions from IDC

(2003a),

Forrester

(2002a),

and Gartner

(2003)

have beenused.

3.5.2 SystemIntegration

Linthicumdocuments_manyoftheintegrationchallengesfaced

by

ITmanagers

are discussed

including

disparate

legacy

systems, heterogeneous hardwarearchitectures,

operatingsystems, networking

technology

and_proprietaryapplications anddataformats

(1999).

The primaryissues_pertainingto

legacy

software aredescribed

by

Lehmanand

Belady

(1985),

and

Seacord,

PlakoshandLewis (2003). Thesetexts characterizethe

unique challengesof_managingand_upgrading

legacy

systems without

disrupting

the operation ofthe enterprise.

3.5.3 Application DevelopmentandDeployment

IDC assertsthatWebServiceswill

directly

impacta number of

key

application development areas including:

business functionswillbemore _accessible, andthatdependencies on_underlying

technologieswillbereduced(2003b).

In

Investing

inInformation Technology:

Productivity

Payoffsfor U.S.

Industries,

Stiroh

(2001)

underscores theimportanceof

investing

in information

technology

to improveproductivity. Heconcludesthat theacceleration oflabor_productivitygrowthin theU.S. isadirectresult ofITinvestment.

3.5.4 Response Time

Many

ofthepublications cited above

identify

one ofthe

key

benefits ofWeb ServicesandSOA asthe_abilitytorespond more_{rapidlyto emerging,}unanticipated

customerneeds.Thecore assertionisthat thestrategic valueofWebServices ismore

thananimprovement intechnology.

Rather,

itisadvancementinthewaysinwhich information

technology

can supportbusiness_objectives,andhowa strategicadvantage

canbeestablishedintheprocess.

Luftman,

et al.

(1993)

characterizethe

transforming

impactofinformation

technology

such asWeb Services inthe

following

way: "Thegoal of_servingthewidest rangeofcustomerneedsinthemost cost-effective and responsive_wayrepresentsa shift tonew competitive

strategies."

TheimplicationofWebServices deploymentisthatmass

customization of productandserviceofferingsis enabled

by

theexistence of servicesthat canbe_rapidlyorganizedtomeetdynamiccustomerneeds_quicklywith minimum

expense. SifonisandFlynn

(2001)

arguethatthevalue ofWebServicesis intheoptions thatarecreatedandtheconsequent_abilitytorespondtocustomer needs more _quickly

thanthecompetition.

Britt

(2002)

refersto this _{synergy betweenenabling}informationtechnologiesand

evolvingcustomer needsasthe creationof valuethrough the "fusionofbusinessand

technology".

Hagel

(2002a)

again providesinsight intotheissueof_enablingenterprisesto

respond_quicklyto_emergingopportunities.Hisdiscussionoftheservices gridis helpful inunderstandingone_{way in}which enterprises_maypreparetocapturefuturerevenues

4 Background

4.1 WebServicesemergence

Thisthesisassertsthatbusinessvalue will resultfromthe implementationofWeb Services. Thatvalue willbeenabled

by

a number of_existingand_emergingtechnologies and

standards.Figure 4.1 indicates thatenterprises areindeed_makingsubstantial investments inWeb Services hardwareand software. IDC defines _software, hardwareand externalintegration

spending inthe

following

way. "Softwareincludesall_spendingon_anytype of softwareforthe purpose oftheproject. _{Hardware spending}is likewise definedas _spendingonphysical

infrastructuretosupport_{the project,}andsystemintegration (professional services) spending is

spendingonexternal consultants of allkindstoimplementtheproject"

[image:27.563.100.457.377.580.2]

(IDC,

2003a).

Figure 4.1 - U.S. Web Services_project

spending

by

ITsegment, 2002-2014

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

?Software_spending

Table 4. 1 presents example applicationsthat_potentiallywillbenefit fromIT

[image:28.562.58.508.108.580.2]

infrastructures thatincorporateWeb Services.

Table 4.1 - Range

ofWebServices' _{applicability}

Intranetapplications Extranetapplications

Externally

published WebServices

Corporateportals Joint development eBusiness initiatives

Merger/acquisitionintegration Collaborative Published/syndicated

Communications

(email,

partnerships content

instant_messaging,web

Supply

chain Customer/technical

conferencing) integration support

Security

andauthentication Procurement Computer-assisted

Document/information

Billing,

credit

training

and management Mobile/wireless instruction

Systemmanagement access

Informationaggregation

Computer-assisted

training

andinstruction

Accounting

andfinancial

services

Distribution&product

delivery

Manufacturing

and

engineering

Sales & marketingsupport

The

key

to_realizingthefullpotential istorecognize thatWeb Servicespresents a

standards-based approachto

integrating

existing systems,applications such asthoselisted_above, anddata. Itisnot_necessarilyabout

implementing

new systemsfromtheground_up,butrather

taking

advantage of

legacy

dataandcapabilities inwaysthatallowthosecapabilitiestobe

Inthe_past, data

integration

has beenan_especiallydifficultchallenge.Theuse ofXML

and other

industry

_{standardtechnologies}providesaframework foruniversaldataintegration. The standards upon whichWeb Servicesis basedattacktheproblem ofdataexchange and

interoperability

while_preservingplatform independence. In _addition,XML-based messaging

makesitpossibletodeliverapplicationindependent data inrealtime. Thiswill enabletherapid introductionof new servicesthat_mayhave otherwisehavetakenyears to

develop

because ofthe labor-intensivenature of

developing

and

testing

newinterfaces.

WebServices is implemented inthecontextof aSOA.A SOAiscomposed of

loosely

coupled collections ofservices,often organized aroundbusinesscapabilitiesratherthan technical functions. Figure 4.2illustratesthehigh-levelcomponents of a

SOA'

[image:29.563.111.480.305.612.2]

(Hagel &

Brown,

2002b).

Figure 4.2- SOA_components

Business Processes

Application Development Toote

Appfcation Development Methodology,e.g.SODA

WebService's Framework Development loots

WebSeivices StandardsandSpecifications

mmmmmmmmmmmmm

J

WebServices Infrastructure

Application

Servers (e.g.SecurityXML

Firewall)

Registry

(UDOFj

XML

Registry

Inlrashuctiire Management

The

following

sections provide abrief descriptionofthecoreWeb Servicestechnologies.

4.2 XML

Extensible

Markup

Language

(XML)

isthecatalyst

driving

theadoption ofWeb

Services.XMLallowsdatatobe definedina_waythatseparatesinformationaboutcontentfrom informationabout presentation.This approach addressesthe_primaryflawofHypertext

Markup

Language

(HTML),

whichcombinesdataand presentationinto a single_markuplanguage

(Newcomer,

2002).

ThesignificantimpactofXMLis not rootedintheexpectationthatalldataeverywhere

willbestoredin XML

format,

butratherthatgiven a standards-baseddatatransformation capability,

legacy

datafrom_existingrepositories canbemade availabletoXML-enabled

applications. Thetransformationisrequired_onlyonce.Middlewareapplications often require

multipledatatransformations

depending

onthecontextwithin whichthedatawouldbeused

(Coyle,

2002).

Withwelldesignedschemas and_semanticallyuseful

tags,

XMLenables applications to

easily

identify

and extract_onlythose dataelementsthatareusefulinthe current context regardlessofwherethedataoriginated andinwhatformat itwas stored

(Coyle,

2002).

4.3 SOAP

SOAP

(originally

an acronymfor Simple Object Access

Protocol)

is anXML-based

protocol_allowing applications tocommunicate overtheInternet. SOAP isthecommunication protocolof choice formostWebService applicationsandframeworksandhasbeenproposedto theInternet

Engineering

Task Force

(IETF)

asa standard.

SOAPis XML-based. One oftheobstaclestoapplication

interoperability

hasbeenthe

inability

ofapplicationsdeveloperstoagree onthebestmethod_{for exchanging information}

about services andobjectsand

doing

soina_waythatisplatformindependent. SOAPdefines for componentdevelopershowtouseXMLandHTTPtoexchangesuchinformation. Andsince

HTTP isubiquitous,andXMLis

becoming

so,itprovides agluebetween dissimilarcomponents

4.4 UDDI

Universal

Description, Discovery

andIntegration

(UDDI)

isanXML-based

directory

facility

thatallows service providers toadvertisetheircapabilitiestoapplications _searchingfor

services

(Newcomer,

2002).

Initially,

itwasthought thatUDDIwould provide a grand

opportunity foreBusinessdirectoriesthatwould actasthebasisofthe "frictionlesseconomy",

providingrapididentificationandinvocationofWeb Servicesacrossthe Internet.

Now,

themore pragmatic role forUDDI istobethecornerstone of services orientedIT

infrastructures. This evolution supportsthenotion ofinitialWebServices adoption_occurring

withintheenterprise.

Finally,

UDDIprovides _scalabilityand

flexibility,

two

key

characteristics in_meetingthe_{rapidly changing}needs of applications developers inaservice-oriented

environment.

4.5 WSDL

Web Services Description Language

(WSDL)

isanXML-based

facility

usedtodescribe

aWeb Service'scapabilitiesindependentofthecommunication protocol usedtoaccessthose

services. Itspecifies not_onlywhat services are_available,butalso howWSDLworksin

conjunction withUDDItoprovide comprehensiveinformationaboutthecapabilities of available

WebServices ontheInternet (or

Intranet) (Burbeck,

2002).

Ina

SOA,

WSDLmeetstheneedforan

XML-based,

protocolindependentmechanism

for easilypublishing,and_updating, servicesina standardformat.PotentialusersofWeb

Servicesadvertisedinthisyellow pages-likefashioncan_easily

identify

and compare available

services anddeterminewhich_maybebest fora particular application. Forconsumers ofWeb

Services,

dynamic serviceidentificationand update are simplified

by

_eliminatingdetailsof access protocols and message encoding. Figure4.3 summarizesthecoreWeb Services

[image:32.562.107.457.110.400.2]

Figure 4.3 - Core Web Services

operations

Registry Servic*

Publreh Service

Service Provider

QueryFunctions, Interfacesand

formats

Invoke

service

Query/locate

Service Seivice

Requestor

4.6 Applicablestandards

The existence of proposed_standards,specificationsandmethodologiesthatprovidethe

basis foraWeb Services framework is instrumentalto

increasing

thelikelihoodthatapplications

willmeet

interoperability

expectations. Whileprogress is

being

_{made, the}standards_underlying

Web Servicesare still_evolving, and sothereis stillthepotentialforvendor specific

implementationandfragmentationthatcould underminethe_{primary objective,} indeedthe

promise ofWeb

Services,

of_enablinga

truly

interoperable frameworkofdisparate

information

producers and consumers(Gottschalket_al.,2002).

Inadditionto thosestandards mentioned_above,Extensible Stylesheet

Language

(XSL)

iscritical to_enablingthedevelopmentofWeb Servicesapplications. XSLprovidesconsistent

grammars for

defining

thewaysinwhichdataistransformed

(Newcomer,

2002).

4.7 Applicationframeworks

Thedistinctionbetween Web Servicesapplications andWeb

Services

frameworks is

Servicesapplications are developedwithinthecontext of a framework.

They

are software

applications,products or servicesthatmakedataand_{processingcapability}availableto other

applications. Theseapplications canbeconsideredindependent

building

blocks _advertisingand providingservices or capabilities toother applications on anetwork. Theseapplications canbe

combinedin_virtually

limitless

combinationstoprovide end users a unique informationproduct

or service. AWeb Services

framework,

ontheother

hand,

consists of_standards, specifications

and methodologies for

building

such interoperableapplications. J2EEand.NETaretwoofthe

leading

applicationframeworks for

developing

Web Servicesapplications. These frameworks

5

Methodology

5.1 Approach

5.1.1 Theframework

As mentioned_{above, the}

following

diagramdescribestheframeworkwithin which wewillevaluatethepotential valuecontributions ofWeb Services.

Figure 5.1-_{The Value Framework}

BUSINESS VALUE

CostBenefits Revenue Opportunities

0 p p 0 R T U

rV / T Y

Data Management

System Integrator!

ApplicationDevelopment

andDeployment

ResponseTime

^))IJll^Jl.milMMl)iiWI| mfijmnifmmmmmiwiuamwviuvm

5.1.2

Identifying

value within theframework

Foreach oftheabovefour identifiedareasof_opportunity

-data_management,

system

integration,

applicationdevelopmentand

deployment,

and responsetime - the benefits ofWeb Services implementations willbeestablished

by

_{showing how}such implementationsresultinoneorbothofthe following:

Cost benefits intheformofincreased efficiencyintheuse ofIT resources

[image:34.562.121.482.279.528.2]

Revenueopportunitiesthatare realized as a result of

implementing

Web

Services technologies

5.1.2.1 CostBenefits

Costefficiencies can resultfrom lowercapital

investments,

lower_ongoing

support_costs, or reducedlaborcosts. Whilecost efficienciesalone areinsufficient toestablish a comprehensive valueframeworkwithin whichtomakeinvestment

decisions,

suchdecisions are oftendriven inpart

by

theexpectationthatcost

efficiencieswillresult(Boehm &

Guo,

2003). InvestmentsinITtechnologies such asWeb Servicesare no exception. Inthis thesiswe will

identify

anddescribe thecost efficiencies_resultingfromtheadoption ofWeb Servicestechnologies.

Costbenefits foreach ofthefourareas of_opportunityare summarizedin

tableformat in sections

6.1.2, 6.2.2,

6.3.2and6.4.2.

5.1.2.2 RevenueOpportunities

Revenueopportunities_resulting fromimplementationofWebServices

technologiesare manifestedinatleasttwoforms.

First,

by delivering

products

and services inthe targetmarkets where afirm_alreadycompetes_maygenerate

new revenues.Theseproducts and services_{may be} ofbetter qualityor contain enhanced

functionality,

but

they

largely

represent

delivery

of productsto_existing customers_{using (and extending) existing business}processes.

Second,

new revenue opportunities are affordedfirmsthathavethe_ability

torespondto_emergingbusinessopportunities. This is_especiallytruewiththose firmswhosebusinessmodels are

heavily

dependent on_{rapidly changing}

5.1.3 Opportunities

Theverticalaxis ofthisframeworkidentifies fourareas of_opportunitytobe

examinedin detailwith respecttoWeb Services implementation.

They

are: Data management

System integration

Application development & deployment

Response time

These fourare selectedbecause

they

representimportantvalue driversof

competitive advantagefor firms intoday's markets,regardless oftheproductorservice

they

mayprovide.

5.1.3.1 Data Management

Data Managementis selectedas onedimensionofthevalueframework

because lackof

industry

standardsandlackofenterprise-_{widedata definitions}

haveresultedinpervasiveinefficiencies. Improvements in Data Management

techniqueshavethepotentialtoreturn valueto theenterpriseboth intheformof

reducedcostsaswellasrevenue opportunities.

5.1.3.2 SystemIntegration

Web Services maybeviewedas anadvanceinsystemintegration.The

value isrealized when

they

areintegratedwith otherservices ina unique_wayto

provideasolutiontosolveaspecificbusinessproblem. SystemIntegration has

beenselectedas adimensionwithinthevalue frameworkbecauseofthehistorical

5.1.3.3 ApplicationDevelopment&Deployment

Applicationdevelopment anddeployment

has

traditionally

beenslowand

inefficient

as newIT

technology

is

introduced,

_consumingsignificantresources in

theprocess.

Reducing

theresourcesrequiredto

develop

and

deploy

new

applications represents a significant_{opportunity for}enterprises.

5.1.3.4Response Time

Thevalue ofITadvancements is oftenderivednotfromthe

technology

butratherfromthebusinesspossibilitiesthatresult

(Masud,

2002). With Web

Servicesenterprises canfocuson_assemblingservices and solutionsfroma

technology

agnostic_{viewpoint,worrying only}abouttheorchestrationthatmakes

itpossible. For_{this reason,}responsetime

(or,

thereduction_{thereof) is} selected as [image:37.563.117.541.374.710.2]

thelastdimensionofthevalueframework.

Table 5.1 describesinmoredetailtheopportunities thatmake_upthe

frameworkwithin whichthisthesiswillproceed.

Table 5.1 - Detail

ofissuestobe evaluated

Data

Management

System

Integration

Application

Development &

Deployment

Response Time

Data Service-Oriented Application Reduced

time-accessibility Architectures development to-marketin

Data

(SOA)

Application _existingmarket

transformation Platform deployment segments

Datasemantics independence Use of "bestin New business

Data

Management

System

Integration

Application

Development&

Deployment

Response Time

frameworks

Web Services

management

Legacy

systems

Service

aggregation

withinthe

enterprise

Leveraging

existing

intellectual

assets

Integration of

mergers and

acquisitions

Responseto

regulatory

requirements

Compliance

with vertical

andhorizontal

industry

standards

Focuson

business

6 Analysis

6.1 Datamanagement

Enterpriseshave been facedwithcomplexdatamanagementissues for decades. Lackof

industry

standards andlackofenterprise-widedata definitions haveresultedinpervasive

inefficiencies.

Changing

_existingdatamanagement_practices,

however,

canhave significantcost

implications and_wide-rangingimpacts across an enterprise.

Therefore,

suchinvestmentsare not

madewithouta clear_{understanding}ofthepotentialbenefitstoberealized.

Withrespecttodata_{management, the} expectedbenefitsof

investing

inWeb Services

technologies,

especiallytheuse of

XML,

include improved data_exchange,reduced maintenance

costs and reduceddevelopmenttime. The

following

sectionprovidesadetailedanalysis ofhow

thesebenefitsand others applicabletodatamanagementwillberealized

by

investing

inWeb

Servicestechnologies.

Forthepurpose of_{this analysis,}datamanagementhasbeen further broken down intothe

following

sub-categories:

Data accessibility

Datatransformation

Data semantics

Content management

6.1.1 Technicalanalysis

6.1.1.1 Background

Enterpriseshave_{been expanding}and_evolvingtheapproachto

building

multiplelocationsresultedin_redundancy,

inconsistency,

and_{ultimately higher}

maintenance costs andhadtobemanaged_carefullyacrosstheenterprise

(Applegate et_al.,

1996;

2002).

Furthermore,

reports generated

by

applications

usingdata from dedicatedrepositories could resultin inconsistent reportingas

[image:40.562.124.511.183.502.2]

shownbelow.

Figure 6.1 - Files _systems data_storage

Management

Purchasing Application

Financial Reporting Application

Inventory data

Theapproachtostorage ofthis _{data gradually}evolvedfrom file-based

systemstoDatabase Management Systems (DBMS). DBMS tookon_many

functionssuchasdataentry,updateandmanagementthatwere

formerly

performed

by

aspecialized applicationorset ofapplications.DBMS vendors

provided productsthathandledtheserolesand published alimitedset of

functionality

throughanApplication

Programming

Interface (API). Thismadethe

datamoreindependent from theapplications_requiringaccess.The

interface

between applicationsand

DBMS, however,

remained

tightly integrated

and

highly

Database systemsfurtherevolvedfrom

hierarchical,

_{to relational, to}

object-orienteddatabase systems(Applegate et_al., 1996). Thecommonthread

with_{using DBMS}to storedata isthatforeach functionalapplicationthatneedsto

accessthedata_repository, a specialized and ofteninflexible interface mustbe

implemented

as shownbelow. The interfaces defined

by

individualvendors can [image:41.563.122.487.197.570.2]

vary widely fromDBMS toDBMS.

Figure 6.2- DBMS data

storage

Management

Report A

Purchasing

Application

Financial

Reporting

Application

DBMS API

DBMS API

DBMS

1

Inventory

contain an

inappropriate

level ofdetail foreachfunctionalapplication.

Rather,

each application must accept records ofinformationthathave beengeneralizedto

meetthedemandsof multiple_{applications,} andparsethedata

looking

_{for only}the

pertinent information itrequires.

Further,

each application must adapttheformat [image:42.562.117.509.275.634.2]

ofthedatatoa

format,

or

type,

appropriateforuseinthecurrentcontext.

Figure 6.3 showsacentralizedenterprisedata repositorythateliminates

the_redundancyandinconsistenciespossiblewith multipledata_{repositories,}but

retainsthe

tightly

integratednature oftheinterfacebetweenapplications andthe

repository (Applegate &

Bock,

1995).

Figure 6.3 - Corporatedatabase

systems

Subsequentmigrationfrom hierarchical DMBS torelational and

repositorytosupportbusiness_processes,but has done littletoalleviatethe

problems associated withthe

tightly

integrated

interfaces betweenapplications anddatarepositories. Changes in_underlyingdatarepositories_ultimatelyresultin application maintenance (Applegate et_al.,

1996)

(Applegate &

Bock,

1995).

There is evidencethatWeb ServicesandXMLwill_{positively impact Data} Managementwithin theenterprise._{The primary}reasonforthisisthearchitectural

advantages of_separating

data,

and servicesthatprovide accessto

it,

fromthe

applications thatconsumethat

data,

_reducingtheinterdependenciesthathave

traditionally

driven_updevelopmentand maintenance costsforITorganizations.

6.1.1.2 Data accessibility

Web Serviceswill_positively impact data_{accessibility in}a numberof ways.

First,

massive

legacy

datarepositorieswillcontinuetoexist wellintothe

foreseeable future. Largevolumes ofbusiness data_reside,and will always _reside,

on

legacy

systems such as mainframe computers.Thecost of_movingthisdata will prohibit rewrite of_{many large}scale systems thatmanagethese

legacy

data repositories

(Peng

et_al., 1998).

These

legacy

repositories canbemade availabletoWebServiceswithin

theenterprise

by

"wrapping"them in Web Services

technologies,

and_advertising

their_abilitytoprovide certaintypes ofdata_{using SOAP}throughaWSDLdefined interface(Gottschalket_al.,2002).

Tightly

integrated

legacy

applications can

continuetoaccessdatathrough traditional

APIs,

while new applications can accessthedatathrough themore flexible WebServices interface. As Web Services applications and services gain_acceptance,and_{proprietary APIs} are

functionalsilos withintheenterprise.For_{example, the} serviceorganization

maintains one set ofdata_regardinga particular_customer, andthefinance

organization maintainsdataaboutthesamecustomer, but ina separateDBMS.

Thisdata isoften redundant_and,intheworst_case,inconsistent. Organizational

turfwars and politicalissuesaside, wrappingdatarepositories in Web Services

technologiescan extenddata accessibilityacrossthesefunctional siloswithinthe

enterprise (Gottschalket_al.,2002).

Consequently,

a customer service

representative canhavea complete and consistent set ofpertinent customerdata

infront ofthemwhen_{communicating}with a_customer,andboththespeed and

qualityof customer engagements canimprove.

Providing

ahigh qualitycustomer

experience is

key

to_remainingcompetitivewhencustomerscanchoose from

many firms fora productorservice.

Improved_{data accessibility}viaWeb Servicescanalso_{positively impact}

the_abilityof anenterprise torespond_quicklytonewbusinessopportunities inthe

following

way.As new combinationsofdataand

functionality

becomeavailable

to WebServices applications, opportunitiestoadd valueinunique waysemerge.

Forexample, imagine afirm specializing in publishingscientific educational

content. The firm hastwo

divisions,

onethatpublishescontentintheformof

traditionalperfect

bound,

paperback volumes.Theother, to date hasfocusedon

publishingcontent,predominantlyvideoand audio_content, onCDROM. After

eachdivisionhasmadetheirinformationassetsavailable_{using Web}service

technologies,

the_opportunityarisestocreate a

3r

division. Thisdivisioncould

accesstheinformationassetsoftheothertwo inordertocreate aweb-based

scientific

learning

centerthatcombines

text,

audio and video assets availablefrom

theothertwodivisions. Takenone_step

further,

theweb-based

learning

center

couldallowsubscribersto tailor theirinstructionto their own optimal

leaning

style

by

_selectingthecontentthatbestsuitsthem.Inthis _example, a new

applicationthatconsumesdatamade availablethroughWeb Services

technologies(inparticular

SOAP)

can focus on

"what"

data is _available,rather

than"how"togetit. BrandnewAPIs allowing access

information

assets ina new

when and whereinformation isdeliveredcanbean advantageforenterprisesin

highly

competitive markets.

Similaropportunities areavailable within

enterprises'

IT infrastructures.

For example,employee portals are

becoming

integral in

disseminating

informationthroughout theworkforce oflargeenterprises. Theinformation

distributedoften comesfroma_varietyof organizations.Anemployee portal will

have

breaking

news about_{the enterprise,}linkstobenefits

information,

job

opportunities, companydirectoriesand_resources, and ahostof other pertinent

data foremployees. Accessto the

information,

ifmade availablethroughWeb

Services interfacescanbeaccessed more easily,andthelikelihoodthatthe

information is_uptodate and accurate is higher. Inthissense employee portals are

anintranetinformationaggregation applicationthatcantakeadvantage of service

providers withintheenterprise.

Thisphenomenonisthemost powerfullatent opportunitypresentinthe

adoption ofWeb _{Services. In Out of}theBoxHagel

(2002a)

defines then-squared

problem as the_{exponentially}

increasing

_complexityofintegration activityasthe

number of nodestobe integrated increases. Wecan_applythisnotionto the

positiveimpactof_{making data}more accessible

by

_arguingthat thereis an

n-squared_opportunity,

i.e.,

that thenumberofvalue propositionsthatcanbe

constructedinresponsetocustomer needs increases asthenumber of nodeswith

uniquedatatocontributeto the solutionincreases.

Improvements _{in data accessibility}canhave_another,more subtle effect on

customerfocus. Asmore and more data becomes accessible_{to applications,}

redundancies willbecome more apparent.

Emerging

applications_accessingdata

particular piece ofdata.

Using

UDDIand

WSDL,

multipleservices canbe located

and_compared, andthebestmatch selectedforintegration.

6.1.1.3 Data transformation

Enterprises_will, for_varyingreasons,continuetostore data inon vendor

specific platforms innativeformatsthatare application specific.

Wrapping

datain

WebServicestechnologiesas describedaboveisone of_manytransformation

stepsthat_mayoccur asdataisprocessedinthecontextofindividualapplications

(Gottschalket_al.,2002).

Thesetransformationsteps are made possible

by

themultitude oftools and

technologiesavailablefor

transforming

XMLdatastreamsinto otherformatsthat

are either more_widelyaccepted_or, formatsthatareapplication specific. The

existence ofDTDsand/orSchemaforaparticularXMLdatastreammakes it

possibletoautomatetransformationsfrom XMLto_anyotherdesired

format,

using XSLT. Inthis way, applicationscantransformXMLdataintoapplication

specific formatswithoutsignificant_programmingefforts.

Thesetransformationstepsare not newinthe ITdomain. Systems have

always requiredthatdata be inaformthatcanbeunderstood andprocessedinthe

context ofthecurrentapplication. Whatisnewisthat

they

canbe automated

usingtechnologieslike XSLTsothattransformationenginesdonot needtobe built fromtheground up.

Furthermore,

whileinitial Web Services

implementationswill replicatedatatransformationprocesses withinthecontext of a_service, it is

likely

thatwiththe_growingsophistication ofWebServices

infrastructures,

datatransformationengineswill reside onthenetwork and offer

transformationservices formultiple applicationsand services across the

enterprise

(Forrester,

2002a). Withthepotentialexistence ofdatatransformation

engines in a

SOA,

not_onlyis data liberated fromtheapplicationsthatuse

it,

(Coyle,

2002)

dataisalso liberated fromtheengines usedto transformit.

Further,

transformationfromnativeDBMS formatto XML has become easieras morevendors providetheabilitytoexportXMLdata directly. DBMS

vendors suchasOracleallow structured _querylanguage

(SQL)

commandsthat

datatransformation is_actuallyencapsulatedintheoff-the-shelf_product,

eliminatingtheneedforaseparatetransformationengine. Thistrendisnot limited

tolargesuppliers ofenterprise solutions. _{For example,}

MySQL,

thedatabase

solution made available undertheGNUGeneral Public License

(GPL)

provides

similar capability. Theexistence oftransformation_capabilityinDBMS reduces

theneedforenterprises toexpendITresourcesto

develop

transformationengines.

6.1.1.4Datasemantics

Today,

mostCIO'srecognizethatXMLisnot a completesolutionto the

problem ofdataexchangeacrosstheenterprise. It

does,

however,

playa

significant role in establishingshared_meaningacrosstheenterprise. XMLtags

can

help

in

identifying information,

but interpretationof whatis betweenthe tags

still requires common_{understanding}tobeestablished(Hagel&

Brown,

2001).

Forexample, theXMLtags<name> and </name> leaveopentointerpretation

whether or notthecontentbetweenthem isfirst_name, last _name,or_possibly

both.

Making

the_wrongassumption aboutthecontents withinthetags could

potentiallyresultincommunicationstoa customerthatbegins_with, "Dear

William H.

Jones",

_which,while not

incorrect,

isnot as_pleasingas "Dear

William"

or"Dear Mr.

Jones"

and_mayhave aninfluenceonthecustomer's

perception.

Having

said

that,

XMLismorethanjustanew_waytomark_{up data. The}

degreeofindependenceofdatain XMLformat isrevolutionary. DatainXMLis

independentof rendering. Itis independentoftransportmechanisms. It is

independentof_programminglanguages andhardware/software_platforms,and

Initially,

thedefinitionofXMLvocabularieshasfocusedonvertical industriessuch as

finance, banking,

scienceandtechnology.Butthesame

opportunities exist withintheenterprise. JustastheOpen Financial Exchange

(OFX,

2003)

ismeanttoestablish aninterfacewithbrokerageclientstodownload financialdata intotheirlocal applications such asQuickenor

TurboTax,

an

internally

defined_vocabularycanallowlaborcost

data,

for_{example, to}be

exchangedbetweentwoorganizations within an enterprise _seekingtoproject

costsfora project onwhich

they

willbecollaborating.Vocabulariescanbe definedthataccommodate adiverse set ofusers ofdataacrosstheenterprise. And

onceashared_vocabularyhasbeenestablishedthatcontainstheappropriate

data,

attheappropriatelevelof

detail,

multiple applicationscan storeand processdata withinthecontext oftheirlocalapplication and exchangedatawith others with

minimaltransformation.

Let's saythatmultiple organizations within an enterprisehaveestablished

adefinition foradataelement called"customer"thatmeetstheirlocalapplication requirements.The customer service_{organization,}leftto theirowndevices has

requirementsthatwoulddrivethem todefine"customer"

inthe

following

way:

<customer>

<name></name> <address></address> <phone></phone> <email></email> </customer>

Asecondorganization, accounting, withinthesame enterprise _mayrequire boththe_companynameaswell as acontactname forthis customer sothat the

customers'

companyname canbeplacedoninvoices. Thisorganization would describethecustomerdataelementinthisway:

<customer>

<company_name></company_name>

<contact_name></contact_name>

<address></address>

<phone></phone>

<email></email>

Athird organization, sales, mayrequire an additional levelofdetail inthe

contact name. Firstandlastname_maybeuseful forthisorganizationsothat

they

can personalizetheircommunicationstoindividuals. This organization would

definethecustomerdata inthe

following

way:

<customer>

<first_name></first_name>

<last_name></last_name>

<address></address>

<phone></phone>

<email></email>

</customer>

Giventhese threedefinitions of a customerdataelement, it ispossibleto

definea_vocabularythatcontains a single customerdataelementthat

accommodates allthreeapplications. Thedefinitionofthecustomerdataelement

thatwould accommodate allthreeorganizations'

requirements wouldlook like

this:

<customer>

<company_name></company_name>

<first_name></first_name>

<last_name></last_name>

<address></address>

<phone></phone>

<email></email>

</customer>

Thepoint ofthisillustration is thatinorderto realizethefullpotential of

using Web Serviceswithin_{the enterprise,}agreeduponvocabularies mustbe

definedjustas

they

mustbe defined forspecific applications across enterprises

justasis

being

donewith vertical andhorizontal standards.Oncethese

vocabularies existtheincentivetocreate independent datarepositorieswithdata

maintainingthedata. Inthe_past,dataelements wouldhavebeenreplicatedwith

varyinglevels of

detail,

inrepositories ondifferentplatforms.One organization

would store customerdataelementsina network-accessibleOracle

DBMS,

anotherin anAccess

database

on alocal server. Withtheconvergenceofdata

repositories anddataelementdefinitionsthroughstandardizedvocabularies and

XML,

redundant maintenancetasks canbeeliminated.

Avoiding

maintenance

costs contributesto thecompetitiveness oftheenterprise.

6.1.1.5 Contentmanagement

Contentmanagementisaspecialized caseofdatamanagementthathas

significantimplicationstoenterprise-wide _efficiencyand operation. Enterprises

have digitalassetsthatare often usedformultiple purposes. Forexample, a

product or servicedescription_mayberenderedina

brochure,

ontheWebandon

productpackaging.Ratherthan

developing

and_maintainingthree separate assets

basedontheir

destination,

a singledigitalasset canbe developedanddeliveredto

anyapplication_requiringthatcontent. Enterprise-widecontent managementis

increasingly

importantas companies findmore and more channelsfor

delivering

product information. XMLandWeb Services can_playa significantrole in

improving

content managementeffectivenesswithintheenterprise.

XML_{data may be}plain_text,formatted

documents,

_messages,

images,

numeric

data,

or_anyoneofthewide varietiesofdigitalrepresentations fordata

wehave devisedto

date,

or willdevise inthefuture. For_example,product

images,

descriptions andspecifications are renderedin marketing collaterals, on

the company'swebsite,andincatalogs. Contentmanagement systemsbasedon

XMLallowenterprisestouse a singlesourceforcontentthatcanbe

"re-purposed"

depending

onthedestination. Productdescriptionscanbetaggedin

XML format for flexibleaccess,maintained ina single

location,

anddeliveredto

[image:51.563.124.514.117.406.2]

Figure 6.4 - Content_{managementsystems}

Enterprise Website

Content Creators e.g.product_marketing

Product descriptions, Images,logos. Specifications,

etc.

WebService Interface

I

Enterprise Portals

Content Management

System

Contentmanagement systemsbasedonXMLandWebServicesallow

enterprisestomanage digitalassets in a_waythatnot_onlyimproves_{accessibility}

and eliminates redundanciesbutalso reducesthe likelihoodofinconsistent

messagesbothinsideand outside oftheenterprise. Contentassets developed

independentoftargetdestinationsand propagated sothatexact same message is

deliveredno matter whatthecontext.Thisapproach enables more effective

6.1.2 _{Benefits summary}

Thepositiveimpact ofWeb Servicesondatamanagementismanifestedinthe

formof costbenefitsas well as added value intheform ofnew revenueopportunities.

The

following

tableprovides a_summaryofthecostbenefitsassociated with [image:52.562.68.530.194.670.2]

implementing

Web Serviceswithinthedomain ofData Management.

Table 6. 1.1

-Costbenefits todatamanagement

Cost Benefits

Identified Benefit _{Explanation ofBenefit}

Legacy

datarepositoriescanbemade

accessibletoa wide_varietyof applications

by

"wrapping"theminWebServices

technology.

Costsof

integrating

datasourcesthrough

proprietary APIscanbeavoidedwhendata

repositories are wrapped in Web Services.

Improved data accessibilitycanenhancethe

speed and_qualityofcustomer service.

Speeding

accesstopertinent datacan reduce

thecost of

delivering

productsand services.

An underlyingprocess of natural selection

willmaketheproducer ofthehighest

qualitydataa preferred source.

Maintaining

fewersources with similardatais

cost_{effective, reducing}maintenance costs

especially.

Transformationofdata intoapplication

specificformatscanoccur_{automatically}

usingreadilyavailable

industry

standard

tools.

Costsof

implementing

_proprietarydata

transformationengines canbeavoidedin

some cases.

By delivering

XML documents basedon

SQLqueries,vendors are_providing

transformationcapabilities.

Costsof

implementing

_{proprietary data}

transformationengines canbeavoidedin

some cases.

Converging

oncommon vocabulariesand

eliminatingredundant_repository

implementationscan reducemaintenance.

Costsassociated withmaintenanceof multiple

Cost Benefits

Identified Benefit _{Explanation ofBenefit}

XML-based

data

repositoriesinaSOA

providethebasis forenterprise-wide

content management.

Treating

digitalcontentascorporate assets

and_managingthoseassets_efficientlycan

reduce redundancies and maintenance and

associated costs.

The

following

tabledescribe