Rodent Regatta

Microsoft may be doing more than any company I know in fostering a concept called web services. For this entry, we’re defining web services as follows:

A web service uses the communications infrastructure of the Internet and the self-describing aspect of XML data to improve the exchange and processing of information between disparate systems.

That’s a mouthful, but it’s obvious that XML data is a key piece of thinking that makes a web service or web services possible. Because Microsoft is on so many computers with Office, and because Office 2003 can handle XML data, Microsoft may well do more to bring web services out of the purview of I.T. and into the hands of anyone who discusses, plans and executes the interactions between businesses.

For those of you staunchly opposed to Microsoft, regardless of what they do, take heart. For years businesses with completely different computer systems and software have attempted to find ways to integrate transactions. Web services dramatically simplify that effort. Whether Microsoft makes it a mainstream capability or someone else does, the advantages to all who work in a field where numbered products (SKU) have to be moved from place to place are enormous.