NEW FORRESTER RESEARCH UNCOVERS THE
TRUTH ABOUT WEB SERVICES
Amsterdam, Netherlands, July 11, 2002 . . . Available today, a new
Forrester Research (Nasdaq: FORR) report examines why CIOs must adopt new
IT governance policies for Web services -- software designed to be used by
other software via Internet protocols and formats. Seven recent reports
from Forrester Research explore what CIOs and their executive teams need
to know about Web services. These reports examine how Web services
technology will evolve and the impact of Web services on CRM and supply
chain projects, IT budgets, vendors, and security policies. The following
abstracts highlight Forrester's latest library of Web services research
and what it means for IT executives and marketing and business
strategists.
"CIOs: Govern Web Services Now" -- Bobby Cameron, Principal Analyst
Firms today anticipate little difficulty managing Web services -- most are
awaiting maturation of standards before adopting the new technology
wholesale. The problem? Any developer can build a SOAP interface, any
manager can fund it, and any application can call the interface, creating
a free-for-all environment where use of Web services will proliferate
beyond the reach of IT's standard approach to software development,
deployment, and operation. CIOs must adopt new governance for Web services
to prevent this freeform growth or else risk duplication of efforts, loss
of quality, and operational errors. This July report explores how
successful CIOs will develop Web services governance in three waves.
"The Truth About Web Services" -- Ted Schadler, Group Director
Web services will affect every member of the executive team. For CEOs, Web
services is about strategy, locking in customers with better product and
service links. CIOs will gain more control using Web services. COOs will
tap the technology to improve business operations and productivity. CFOs
will use Web services to cut costs. And for the CMO, Web services are
about influence, extending the corporate brand out through a new business
delivery channel.
The truth about Web services is that companies and individuals will use
Internet middleware -- software that lets applications exchange data -- to
eliminate the barriers to applications working together. This is achieved
by unlocking vast stores of data to link and relate unconnected
applications, services, devices, and even sensors and actuators. The Web
services evolution will occur gradually in three waves between 2002 and
2006, affecting the industry in a subtle, bottom-up, cumulative, and
ultimately pervasive way as developers use simple tools to build new
software networks that draw on untapped value.
"Which Web Services Vendor?" -- David Truog, Principal Analyst
Which Web services vendor is right for your project? Forrester believes
that firms should start with a bet on a software infrastructure
heavyweight and augment that platform with Web services startups. For
vendors, the future is now clear: Recast products around Internet
middleware -- from XML to SOAP and WS-Security -- or die. The major
infrastructure software vendors are giving their product lines full
Internet middleware transfusions, and packaged apps vendors are exposing
entirely new APIs for standards-based assembly. A host of focused startups
have evolved in tight lockstep with the evolving Internet middleware
standards.
"Apps Market, Interrupted" -- Laurie M. Orlov, Research Director
Apps vendors are held hostage to a high-margin business model. Facing
decelerating demand for their old client-server-type apps, apps vendors
provide half-baked and still-costly efforts to ease user frustration. At
the same time, users are experimenting with Web services in a quest to
connect their enterprise applications to employee portals. As Web services
experimentation turns into adoption, Forrester identifies three trends
that will reshape the apps market and overturn ISV business models by
2004:
1) User interfaces will shift from individual apps to role-based
transactional portals.
2) Enterprise apps will deconstruct from monoliths into components.
3) Licensing models will morph from individual seats to metered services.
"Securing Web Services" -- Laura Koetzle, Analyst
Despite the frenzy around Web services, security concerns remain
unresolved. Pressed by prospective Web services customers, many vendors
are proposing security standards and products that miss the point. The
scale and scope of Web services will require new standards and new ways of
thinking about problems, such as who's at the other end of the wire, who's
listening to the traffic, and what if something goes wrong between several
tiers of partners?
Instead of relying on traditional piecemeal security strategies, Forrester
recommends that CIOs stop building one-off security systems and deliver
security as an abstracted network service that provides multiple levels of
authentication, authorization, and encryption. This network is built on
the principles of what Forrester calls "Organic IT." Security abstraction
will allow firms to offer Web services securely. It will also yield:
1) Security that scales to match the rest of the infrastructure.
2) Any-to-any integration without the need to exchange security
infrastructure details.
"Web Services Erode CRM Barriers" -- Bob Chatham, Principal Analyst
Integration costs, mutual buy-in across business units, and IT involvement
create tough barriers to effective CRM implementation. According to
Forrester, only 14 percent of firms enjoy the trinity of high business/IT
coordination, high executive support for technology, and high risk of
tolerance -- good traits for a coherent CRM strategy. The other 86 percent
must find a different way that balances managers' parochial needs against
the collective good of cooperating to serve customers.
Web services, even in their nascent state, plug the gap between doing
nothing and robust -- but complex -- EAI technology. Because of this
practicality, Forrester believes that firms will embrace Web services to:
1) Share data and status about demand, opportunities, orders, and service
requests.
2) Centralize key services for common customer IDs, pricing, and
configuration.
3) Build role-based transactional portals to foster data and functionality
sharing.
"Web Services' True Costs Revealed" -- David Metcalfe, Analyst
To discover the reality of Web services, Forrester surveyed 70 European
executives from IT, marketing, and general management at its April 2002
Leadership Forum Europe. Forrester learned that firms spend little on Web
services today, but 84 percent plan to spend more in 2003. Forrester built
a cost model to calculate the costs for a loan application portal and for
an inventory management system and determined that the true cost of
strategic Web services projects will soar 10 times higher than entry-level
projects due to consulting spend and staff.