Toward a Hybrid Solution for the Web of Services

1
Toward a Hybrid Solution for the Web of Services

• Eric Newcomer
• IONA Technologies
• W3C Workshop on Web of Services for Enterprise
  Computing
• February 27-28 2007

2
Web of Documents is a Success!

• Human to computer interactions well on the way to
  solution
• Everyone knows about and uses the Web

3
Web of Services is Not

• Industry and business requirements are not met
• How to make this succeed?

CICS
IMS
C, C, COBOL, PL/I, Java, C
4
The answer is standardization
But the industry has been trying unsuccessfully
for years
Standard Application Programming Interface
Standard Network Interconnect Protocol
Application Service
Underlying Platform
Network
Figure 1, Interchangeable applications and open
network access
From The Keys to the Highway by Conklin and
Newcomer, third chapter of The Future Of
Software, MIT Press,1995
5
Is service abstraction the right approach?

• Service enable existing IT systems
• Use WSDL plus extensions
• Multi protocol
• Multi data format (not just XML)
• Preserve bridge existing QoS

6
Enterprise Software Productivity

• The biggest missing link is program-program
  standards
• These are resisted by vendors
• Fight for developers remains key issue
• Solution through Web services would provide
  significant benefit
• But Is the W3C really the place for this?

7
Does a single set of standards make sense?
SAP

• Middleware solution based on SOAP/WSDL
• http/XML standards

MQ Series
OS 390
Tandem
ftp

• Integrator
• Routing
• Transport
• Translation
• Process flow

Orbix
FIREWALL
Tuxedo
Intranet
Exostar
TPF
CICS
IMS
BAAN
External Repository/ UDDI
Internal Repository/ UDDI
MRP
PeopleSoft
http
8
Or is a hybrid set better?
SAP

• Middleware solution based on SOAP/WSDL
• Multi-protocol/XML

MQ Series

• Middleware solution based on REST
• http/XML

OS 390
Tandem
ftp

• Integrator
• Routing
• Transport
• Translation
• Process flow

Orbix
FIREWALL
Tuxedo
Intranet
Exostar
TPF
CICS
IMS
BAAN
External Repository/ UDDI
Internal Repository/ UDDI
MRP
PeopleSoft
http
9
What Can Be Done?

• Clearly separate Web and services architectures
• EPRs make sense in the enterprise (for example)
• Define how to join the two
• Help users develop best practices
• Avoid innovators dilemma
• Define multi protocol and multi data format
  binding
• Layer on existing enterprise IT infrastructures
• Bridge using WS-Context for sessions
• SOAP server alongside Web server
• (SOAP was originally HTTP extension)

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SOAP server alongside Web server
WS-Context
XML MSG
EJB
JMS IIOP WCF MQ
http message
.NET
MQ
http proxy
CORBA Object
Web Server
HTML
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Summary

• Existing systems are not going away
• Too expensive to throw them out
• Need standards for productivity gain
• Abstractions are not just technical
• Software exists for humans to interact with
• Avoid innovators dilemma
• Design new systems using REST principles
• Do we need a way to map HTTP uniform interfaces
  to existing custom interfaces?