Web services reinvent Internet

Web services are heralded as a revolutionary new concept in computing that will gain huge competitive advantages for their users and reinvent the Internet as we know it.Despite these credentials, or possibly because of them, it seems difficult if not impossible to find a single crisp definition of what Web services are."Web services are not the Web and not services, but Internet middleware enabling you to link to customers, partners and operating groups," said George Colony, president and CEO of Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass."Web services encompass a vision of a fully integrated computing network that includes PCs, servers, handheld devices, programs, applications and network equipment, all working together," said Enrique Castro-Leon of Intel Corp., writing for WebServices.Org, a consortium of Web services vendors and users.However you want to define it, Web services should include:Web services are still a work in progress, but because they are written to standards, all software designers can at least work from the same basic design. Systems integrators, developers and even in-house IT departments can then add value to the basic design to meet the needs of customers and partners.