SOA and Web Services Standards

As discussed in the previous chapters, the foundation of the Web services paradigm is a set of emerging standards that enable seamless integration between heterogeneous information technology processes and systems. A variety of standardization organizations and leading industrial organizations have been collaborating on Web services standards. Among them, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS), the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), United Nations Centre for Trade facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/ CEFACT), WS-Integration (WS-I) are selected standardization bodies. W3C develops interoperable technologies (i.e., specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to lead the Web to its full potential. OASIS is a non-profit, global consortium that drives the development, convergence, and adoption of e-Business standards. IETF is a large open international community concerned with the architectural evolution and the smooth operation of the Internet. UN/CEFACT covers worldwide policy and technical development in the area of trade facilitation and e-Business. WS-I is an open industry group formed in 2002 to promote Web services interoperability across platforms, operating systems, and programming languages. Among industry vendors, IBM, BEA, and Microsoft are leading industry organizations and key contributors. With their joint efforts, currently the Web services field has developed a stack of standard protocols, categorized into a five-layer structure: transport, messaging, description/publication/discovery, Quality of Service (QoS), and service composition.