|
Sun, Microsoft Support for Web Services Standard Ideal for Government Simpler Software Integration Lowers Cost, Meets Congressional Mandate The Sun-Microsoft alliance is expected to benefit many industries, particularly governmental agencies, with the promise of interoperability between their systems and other products. Cooperative solutions will mean more simplified software integrations and less compatibility limitations, resulting in compliance with recent congressional mandates requiring sound, integrated information systems architecture. "The whole standards area is going to be one where this is potentially a game changer," John Fowler, software chief technology officer with Sun, told writer Kevin Jonah, whose article was published in a recent issue of Government Computer News. "Microsoft and Sun have been so diametrically opposed on standards for such a long time; the patent cross-licensing agreement opens up the opportunity to work together with Microsoft on things at a whole new level." Both Sun and Microsoft already support Web Services standards in their development tools, and the government is an ideal candidate to have systems built on these types of service. Fowler contends that Web Services could be used to integrate systems across agency boundaries, connecting to other federal, state and local government systems. Even the systems of major services and goods suppliers could be integrated to provide a single, unified architecture for all aspects of the government. "Web Services are based on Web communications standards and, in most cases, Extensible Markup Language. They build integration points between software running on disparate and distant information systems," writes Fowler. "Using Web Services, one system can call on the functionality of another to retrieve or process information -- anything from a simple database query to a complex workflow." Moving toward a fully integrated Web Services system within government IT is slow, but projects are being tested such as the United States Defense Department's EMall. Known as the highest-profile government Web Services project up to this time, EMall is a procurement portal based in part on WebMethods' software, and currently handles more than $1 million in transactions every week.
"Federal customers are more conservative," said Kristin Weller,
executive vice president for product development for WebMethods Inc.,
"but the trend is picking up."
[...read more...]
Keywords:
|
Print Friendly
Email this article
Microsoft and Sun have been so diametrically opposed on standards for such a long time; the patent cross-licensing agreement opens up the opportunity to work together with Microsoft on things at a whole new level. - John Fowler
Sun, Microsoft Support for Web Services Standard Ideal for Government
Copyright © 1998-2009 System News, Inc.
