Web Services: A Manager's Guide (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"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. 0321185773B06042003

From the Back Cover

"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.

0321185773B06042003

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional (June 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321185773
• ISBN-13: 978-0321185778
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #839,679 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Managers AND programmers should consider this, July 18, 2003

By	W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The title is too restrictive! Ostensibly, the book is for managers and not engineers. There is not a stitch of source code in the book. The author does not assume that you know how to write code, but that you know how businesses use software. My impression is that the book is too useful to be restricted to managers. Programmers can also benefit, if they are about to embark on design and coding of a Web Service, and they have never done so before. Try starting here, as the first step in the design.

Manes gives an excellent summary of the field, with what I consider realistic assessments of its prospects. Part of the book's appeal is the vendor independence. Yes, you can go to the websites of IBM, Microsoft, BEA Systems and others, and find the latest status of their WS offerings and white papers on their strategic takes. And you probably should do that. But getting an independent comparison of their efforts is futile from their own papers.

I especially agree with her assertion that the dynamic assembly of software services is at least 10 years away. This is like in the 80s, when 4th and 5th Generation Languages were touted as just around the corner. When they arrived, you could instruct your computer in new tasks, without having to program! Well, that never happened. The complexity of business and research applications precluded it. Likewise with Web Services. Manes warns the reader not to be beguiled by such claims, but to focus on immediate do-ables.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Heavily biased, September 21, 2003

By	Al Limbaugh Franken (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

This book overpromotes certain vendor web services offerings. This is more than likely caused by the authors day job as an industry analyst where they get paid to write nice things about vendors who offer suboptimal solutions.

I would encourage managers wanting to learn about web services to purchase a book targeted towards developers and only read the first several chapters. Developing Web Services and Java Web Services Architecture are two good books that fill this need.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book, July 12, 2003

By	Doug Kaye (Kentfield, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Don't listen to whoever said to buy my book instead of Anne's. You want them both. The difference: Anne's book will help you with your immediate needs. Not only does she explain web services, she names names: protocols, vendors, specific products. It's the guide you want on your desk for quick reference.

My book, Loosely Coupled--The Missing Pieces of Web Services, is a complimentary book. It will give you the bigger picture, help you develop a web-services strategy, and manage web-service projects. It's more of a sit-down-and-read-it kind of book.

Anne focuses on what you can do today. I go more deeply into the challenges of what she calls "Advanced Web Services." Get 'em both!