Sun Microsystems Inc. last week embraced the use of Java and XML for what it called smart Web services, an infrastructure initiative that it will roll out over the next two years and that will compete with the .Net Web services of rival Microsoft Corp.
Sun’s initiative, Sun One Net Environment, could lead to quicker adoption and more widespread use of the standards that enable Web services, because Sun’s view is similar to that of IBM and Microsoft, said Yefim Natis, an analyst at Gartner Group Inc. in Stamford, Conn.
But Natis estimates that the top 20% of companies have already begun to exploit the distributed architecture that Web services require—on their own. They’re implementing these services to deliver Web content to mobile devices and to repurpose complex application functionality.
Take InsurePoint. The Cincinnati-based insurance broker offers Web services in the form of online rate quotes to corporate clients. Instead of building its own quote engine, www.insurepoint.com uses remote HTTP requests and XML to tap into the rate system of its parent, New York-based Atlantic Mutual Cos. The Web service automatically ticks off the quote requests and sends message receipts and final rates. Tom Winn, InsurePoint’s chief technology officer, said his company would be able to offer similar Web services from other large insurance carriers because of the built-in Web services.
“Rating is a complicated process, and we didn’t want to rebuild [functionality] that was already available on another site,” Winn said. “In a grand sense, it’s distributed, and ultimately, that’s the way we want to communicate with each insurance carrier, because it’s the most efficient way to get the information.”
But as of last week, all of the major operating system vendors—Microsoft, IBM, Hewlett-Packard Co. and Sun—had competing initiatives under way to build software that uses remote procedural calls, HTTP and XML. They also endorse the Universal Description, Discovery and Integration directory, which allows businesses to publish the type of Web services they offer.
“This is a call to developers that they’re no longer building applications for [within the] enterprise,” said Josh Walker, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. in Cambridge, Mass.
Sun’s two-year road map for Sun ONE includes a portfolio of new software. But two years is too long for some companies, Walker said, noting, “Bleeding-edge firms will not wait.”
Put General Motors Corp. in that camp. GM is building into its vehicles a Web services infrastructure that uses Java and Sun’s wireless Jini software, according to Mark Hogan, president of the e-GM unit.
But the world’s largest automaker has also infused its extensive Web and telematic (in-vehicle communications) offerings with Web services that fall outside of Sun’s realm. And they won’t wait for Sun or other vendors to deliver the services and tools.
Last spring, GM, on its own, began revamping its OnStar in-vehicle communications service with a distributed infrastructure that utilizes Web services in the form of XML-based voice files on wireless devices. It’s also using Web services for a human resources portal launched in November that can be accessed via the Web or television.
Sun’s Web services strategy, Sun ONE, is designed to compete with Microsoft’s .Net initiative. But it should pave the way for the development of smart Web services that would run on a variety of computing platforms, from PCs to handheld pagers and cellular phones and even communication systems built into cars, according to Scott McNealy, Sun’s chairman and CEO.
The initiative comprises a technology infrastructure culled from Sun’s Forte development tools and the iPlanet server packages that were developed through an alliance with Netscape Communications Corp.
Sun plans to deliver the additional parts of the Sun ONE infrastructure over the next two years, officials said. It includes five e-commerce applications built by iPlanet, a service deployment engine that supports XML and a developer’s release of the new Web-top development tool.
It also marks a more aggressive foray into software applications and services for Sun, which is the maker of hardware and the originator of the Java development language.
Rob Enderle, an analyst at Giga Information Group Inc. in San Jose, said the transition may prove a difficult course to navigate.
“Sun management does not fundamentally understand software,” he said. “Its like a hockey team winning the Stanley Cup, then deciding that they want to play professional basketball or football.”