"This book performs a valuable service for managers seeking to harness the business potential of Web services technology. Bringing a real practitioner's experience to the task, Anne carefully walks managers through the fundamentals of Web services technology. She does a superb job of helping managers understand this technology so that they can move with sure footing and avoid potentially harmful stumbles along the way." --From the Foreword by John Hagel III and John Seely Brown Written for business and technology managers, Web Services: A Manager's Guide illuminates the potential of Web services for application integration. It describes the essentials of supporting technologies and shows how they can be built into a Web services infrastructure that is high-performance, robust, and cost-effective. Realistic in approach, this book offers a readable definition of Web services and non-technical explanations of key technologies and standards. The author explores the scenarios and applications that would benefit most from Web services and offers guidelines for making an informed decision about which Web services products are right for your company's needs. You will find detailed coverage of the following topics:

*The advantages of Web services over other middleware technologies *Various Web services business models, including those used by Google, Kinko's, Amazon, UPS, and T-Mobile

*The basics of XML, XSLT, SOA, WSDL, UDDI, and SOAP *How W3C, OASIS, and WS-I are standardizing technologies and defining guidelines for interoperability *Web services standards for security, transactions, and portlets

*Powerful features of Web services, including dynamic discovery and dynamic binding

*Using Web services for heterogeneous integration, managing legacy assets, and B2B electronic procurement *Web services core products and platforms

*Evaluating Web services offerings based on such requirements as scalability, extensibility, and security With this book in hand, you will have a clear understanding of Web services, what the technology can do for your organization, and the direction in which you should be heading. Margin content summaries enable time-constrained managers to locate and absorb needed information quickly.

Case studies illustrate the benefits of adopting Web services and also reveal pitfalls to avoid.