InforWorld Articles

The following links are to articles I've written for InfoWorld.

2004

SOAPScope Scrubs Up Web Services (May 14, 2004)

• Summary: A must-have tool for developers working with Web services, SOAPScope 3.0 is easy to configure and use. Pseudocode views of SOAP and WSDL increase programmer productivity while reducing errors.

Commerce One Conductor Takes on Integration (February 16, 2003)

• Summary: Conductor provides a well-integrated suite of tools for using Web services to automate complex business processes. Graphical language tools are easy to use, but this is still a complex suite that will take time and effort to master and understand.

Build Your Own Web Services Value Added Network (January 12, 2004)

• Summary: Flamenco Networks WSM provides a convenient, easy-to-use tool for creating private Web services management networks that can serve thousands of separate partners with a minimum of administrative effort.

2003

Web Services Intermediaries Evolve (December 2, 2003)

• Summary: WSI (Web services intermediaries) address the need for faster, more flexible application integration with configurable tools for creating reliable, scalable Web services networks. There are more than a dozen WSI product vendors ‹ more if you throw in XML firewalls, which are quickly adding Web services deployment and management to their security capabilities.

Closing the XML Security Gap (October 21, 2003)

• Summary: If I were running a business today and thought my digital assets were valuable enough to buy a regular firewall for security, I'd definitely go the next step and buy and XML firewall to sit behind it and monitor my HTTP traffic. Even businesses that aren't using Web services or XML are susceptible to XML attacks.

Share Documents Safely (October 3, 2003)

• Summary: The hardest part of using Inter-Business Vault isn't deploying and operating the product -- it's creating an identity management strategy that correctly accounts for documents and other resources in need of protection, for the people who will access them, and for the authorizations that each person has with respect to the resources. Installing the Vault will only make data more secure if the right data is kept in the vault and users are permitted access only to the data they need. If an enterprise understands how it will manage resources and users, and puts useful policies in place, Inter-Business Vault can be a critical piece of infrastructure for securely sharing files with employees, customers, and partners.

From Real Time to Deal Time (September 2, 2003)

• Summary: Iteration's Real-Time Reporting Suite provides a business intelligence tool for creating, monitoring, and responding to business conditions in real-time. The system is easy to configure and use by business users.

Untangling Web App Security (July 18, 2003)

• Summary: WebInspect is an easy-to-use tool for conducting security assessments of Web-based applications and SOAP-based Web services. The comprehensive vulnerability database ensures coverage and the built-in reporting tool makes disseminating conclusions easy. The tool needs expert guidance, particularly during initial configuration to ensure proper coverage and reduce false positives.

Pipelining the Web (July 4, 2003)

• Summary: An architecture of Web services pipes and filters puts streamlined, flexible application and process integration within your grasp.

Confluent Core: Managing the Web Services Flow (July 3, 2003)

• Confluent Core 3.0 provides centralized control of distributed components

Sonic ESB: Programmable integration (June 6, 2003)

• SonicESB provides a cost effective and flexible platform for enterprise integration, but its use requires significant developer expertise in multiple technologies.

WASP Gives Web Services Development Some Sting (May 16, 2003)

• Business Case - For Web services to become a part of the customer and partner communication strategies for the enterprise, run-time server environments must provide scalability, security, and reliability. Further, developing complex Web services as well as deploying and managing them must be supported by professional grade tools. Systinet WASP Server and WASP Developer provide these tools for Java and C++ Web service delivery.
• Technology Case - Systinet delivers Java and C++ Web service run-time servers in WASP Server. The server integrates well with enterprise grade application servers like jBOSS, BEA Weblogic, and IBM WebSphere for easy inclusion in the enterprise architecture. Policy based security and comprehensive management tools ease the burden of engineering and operations staffs.

Grand Central Connects Web Services (April 11, 2003)

• Business Case - This hosted service plugs gaps in Web services standards to make transactions with trading partners and customers viable.
• Technology Case - This service is a value-added network for exchanging SOAP messages in a trustworthy manner. Systems architects should consider whether the addition of a trusted third party will enhance the functionality of their overall application in terms of its security, flexibility, accountability, and maintainability.

Dawn of the Application Network (March 7, 2003)

• Web services are the foundation for all this work in application integration, but we're only beginning to see the benefits of Web services. Web services differ from past integration technologies because of the standard way that program APIs are exposed. Exposed APIs allow for interoperability, but just as important is the ability to bolt new functionality onto existing applications. Web services create an abstraction layer where applications are seen as black-box nodes on a network. Data and transaction streams are seen as application layer messages on the network. These messages can be conditioned, filtered, and modified in real time as they flow between these nodes.

Being Smart About Business Intelligence (February 24, 2003)

• Executive Summary - Many large companies have profitably used BI software to aid their decision making. Now BI software vendors are betting that Web services will open up new customers, ease integration burdens, and make business intelligence more widely available. By providing a standardized API, Web services could open up a plug and play world of data transfer to BI systems.
• Test Center Perspective - Support for Web services APIs will be a boon to enterprise application vendors and BI software vendors as they reach out to more and more data through easier integration. However, companies will still have to pay the price of building a mature technical infrastructure if they hope to be able to execute on the business decisions they make with the aid of the new tools.

Last Modified: Saturday, 01-Jan-2005 02:39:28 UTC