Adoption Of Web Services Research Articles

Methodology for Web Services Adoption Based on Technology Adoption Theory and Business Process Analyses

Web services use an emerging service-oriented architecture for distributed computing. Many organizations are either in the process of adopting web services technology or evaluating this option for incorporation into their enterprise information architectures. Implementation of this new technology requires careful assessment of the needs and capabilities of an organization to formulate adoption strategies. This paper presents a methodology for web services adoption based on technology adoption theory and business process analyses. The methodology suggests that strategies, business areas, and functions within an organization should be considered based on the existing organizational information technology status during the process of adopting web services to support the business needs and requirements.

E-Government Capabilities for 21st Century Security and Defense

In this article we provide an overview of e-government as it pertains to national security and defense within the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS). We discuss the adoption of Web services and service-oriented architectures to aid in information sharing and reduction of IT costs. We also discuss the networks on which services and resources are being deployed and explain the efforts being made to manage the infrastructure of available services. This article provides an overview of e-government for national security and defense and provides insight to current initiatives and future directions.

Semantic Web Services Applications – a Reality Check

This article aims at providing an overview of the current state of development of Semantic Web services technology. The focus is on a comparison between the research held in the academia and the Semantic Web services adoption in the industry. The reasons that hamper the application of this technology are also given.

A context-based mediation approach to compose semantic Web services

Web services composition is a keystone in the development of interoperable systems. However, despite the widespread adoption of Web services, several obstacles still hinder their smooth automatic semantic reconciliation when being composed. Consistent understanding of data exchanged between composed Web services is hampered by various implicit modeling assumptions and representations. Our contribution in this article revolves around context and how it enriches data exchange between Web services. In particular, a context-based mediation approach to solve semantic heterogeneities between composed Web services is presented.

VsLattice: A vector-based conceptual index structure for web service retrieval

With the rising adoption of web services, effective management of web services becomes a critical issue in making the paradigm of service-oriented computing more practical. In this paper, a novel structure, called Vector-based service Lattice ( VsLattice), is devised to index web services in a semantic way. Each web service is modeled as a group of Service Operation Vectors (SOVs) in the vector space, and each SOV represents an operation provided by the service. The web services, SOVs and the relationship between web services and SOVs form the Conceptual Indexing Context (CIC) of a given service collection. In the CIC, web services that provide similar operations (functions) are conceptually indexed by the same Operation Vector Concepts (OVCs). The underlying relationships among the OVCs are captured with the VsLattice, which is constructed by adopting the traditional concept lattice in a CIC. By taking advantage of the information obtained from the VsLattice, a new representation of SOV is devised. Based on this representation, a novel service retrieval model and the implemental system are developed to retrieve web services efficiently. The performance and retrieving quality of the proposed approach has been evaluated through a series of experiments.

Evaluating Web Services: Towards a framework for emergent contexts

The paper develops an evaluation framework with specific reference to Web Services. It is argued that the essential characteristics for such an approach, noted as qualitative, are captured in these constructs through an augmentation of theoretical considerations and empirical findings. A review of the innovation and diffusion literature indicates a considerable amount of research where attention is given to a range of features which may support Web Service adoption. It is argued that the framework proposed in this paper is of value in highlighting the specific situations for an effective evaluation in this respect. The empirical analysis was undertaken within five UK firms. Each of these organizations represent different business sectors including, Telecommunication (two firms), Independent Software Package Vendor (ISV), Software Engineering and Food Services industries. The study involved a cross-section organizational case approach within each situation for factors affecting adoption. The evidence suggests that the empirical data complements traditional innovation and diffusion theories. However, emergent context is identified as a significant influence on potential web evaluation processes to ensure appropriate investment targeting. The findings are noted to guide analysts in determining critical aspects of the complex issues involved and present suggestions for further valid research.

Generation of efficient parsers through direct compilation of XML Schema grammars

With the widespread adoption of SOAP and Web services, XML-based processing, and parsing of XML documents in particular, is becoming a performance-critical aspect of business computing. In such scenarios, XML is often constrained by an XML Schema grammar, which can be used during parsing to improve performance. Although traditional grammar-based parser generation techniques could be applied to the XML Schema grammar, the expressiveness of XML Schema does not lend itself well to the generic intermediate representations associated with these approaches. In this paper we present a method for generating efficient parsers by using the schema component model itself as the representation of the grammar. We show that the model supports the full expressive power of the XML Schema, and we present results demonstrating significant performance improvements over existing parsers.

Process-Oriented Assessment of Web Services

Though Web services offer unique opportunities for the design of new business processes, the assessment of the potential impact of Web services is often reduced to technical aspects. This paper proposes a four-phase methodology which facilitates the evaluation of the potential use of Web services in e-business systems both from a technical and from a strategic viewpoint. It is based on business process models, which are used to frame the adoption of Web services and to assess their impact on existing business processes. The application of this methodology is described using a procurement scenario.

An analysis of the driving forces for Web services adoption

Web services are supported by major IT vendors and have been adopted by some enterprises in various applications. However, due to the hype surrounding Web services, information technology (IT) personnel and business managers often have difficulty assessing the potential uses, impacts, and benefits of Web services. Based on literature review and technical information, as well as field and Web-based case studies, we have developed a framework for analyzing the driving forces for Web services adoption. The framework and detailed benefits analysis model can be used by IT and business strategy planners to identify technical options and business opportunities, as well as to formulate Web services implementation strategies.

Web services innovation research: Towards a dual-core model

The paper is based on the rationale that existing enterprise process integration technologies are unlikely to be able to tackle problems with the growth and complexity of current e-business practices. In order to clarify our understanding of Web Services adoption we propose a dual-core model that treats such innovation at a strategic level according to its peculiar characteristics. We question the validity of using two prevailing innovation theories: Tornatzky and Fleischer's contextual framework, and Swanson's innovation typology respectively. We argue that simply applying either of these theories would miss important attributes of Web Services; if we use both then it would be too complex leading to poor generalizability. We therefore, compose a synthetic viewpoint, on the basis of Web Services primary characteristics, in order to obtain a thorough understanding of innovation research. We also suggest that adoption of IS innovation may reflect a pattern in terms of the scope of e-business enablement across organizations. The argument is exemplified through the diffusion of Web Service innovation.

Strategies for effective Web services adoption for dynamic e-businesses

Web services hold the promise for the so-called dynamic e-business movement. Currently, many organizations are either in the process of adopting Web services technology or seriously evaluating this option. One of the major concerns of senior management in this endeavor is the cost of adopting Web services. In this paper, a model is proposed to evaluate an organization's position in a technology adoption space by evaluating its current level of information technology (IT) sophistication. The model identifies critical factors necessary for the successful adoption of Web services technology along three dimensions—intranet, extranet, and Internet. A simulation experiment is conducted to find the most cost-effective strategy for allocating resources to pursue Web services adoption. Alternative strategies are evaluated under three scenarios with different combinations of significance levels (weights) and diffusion levels of the critical factors. Our results suggest that different strategies should be employed, while organizations consider their existing organizational IT status and focus area. This study provides useful guidelines for management to utilize available resources effectively in the process of adopting Web services technology.

Towards a semantic- and context-based approach for composing web services

Despite the widespread adoption of web services, several obstacles still hinder their smooth automatic composition. First, techniques that exploit semantic information during web services discovery are still lagging behind despite multiple initiatives like OWL-S. Second, the context in which web services evolve is, to a certain extent, ignored. This prevents deploying adaptable web services. In this paper, we propose a semantic- and context-based approach for web services composition. By semantics, we mean the capacity of web services, which are engaged in interactions, to understand what these interactions are about and how to carry out these interactions. By context, we mean the capacity of web services to assess their current capabilities and ongoing commitments before these services participate in any composition.

Like it or not, web services are distributed objects

Despite the push to adopt Web services as the universal OO architecture, the Web services reliability model ignores many real-world issues routinely encountered by users.

Exploring the role of third parties in inter‐organizational Web service adoption

Web services promise the ability to reduce the time and cost involved in developing, supporting and integrating the internal information systems within a single organization. They also promise the ability to quickly and effectively integrate information systems with those of customers, suppliers and other business partners, and use these integrated systems as a basis for developing shared business processes. This paper discusses the potential role of third party organizations in facilitation of inter‐organizational Web service adoption and use. An empirical case study of such a third party, E2open is presented. The challenges and future potential for such third parties is considered in light of the evolution of inter‐organizational systems in general and from the ASP and electronic marketplaces sectors, in particular. Since the adoption of Web services is a new phenomenon, the role of third parties in that adoption is highly emergent. This study is therefore exploratory in nature and should be considered as providing a basis for further research in this area.

Web service business transformation: collaborative commerce opportunities in SMEs

Web‐based technologies are becoming an important way for small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) to acquire information systems capabilities to support business transformation. This paper investigates the business, technology, and IS drivers for component‐based applications. Web service technology is identified as a key driver for SMEs to gain operational and strategic benefit from net‐sourced information systems. The role of Web services in SMEs is explored through application of Venkatraman's business transformation model. The Web‐service transformation model is applied to a case study of a SME that is adopting Web service technology. The case identifies the potential benefits for SMEs of Web service technology and considers the factors that enable successful Web service adoption.

A readiness model for adopting Web services

Swanson's tri‐core model and typology of IS innovation is used to analyze Web services as IS innovation. Reconciling theoretical and practical perspectives, we develop a three‐layer nested‐stage model as a road map for studying Web services innovation. Most current Web services practice is at the first stage as IS technological process innovation (Type 1b). High compatibility, high divisibility, and high customizability are the primary characteristics of Web service (Type 1b), which originate from the innovation invention layer. Perceived communicability, perceived relative advantage, perceived complexity, and financial cost are the secondary characteristics of Web services (Type 1b), which are located at the innovation adoption layer. We propose a readiness model to illustrate the key controllable factors that influence the adoption decision of Web services (Type 1b): innovation awareness readiness, innovation‐needs fit readiness, technological skills readiness, and financial resources readiness.

Implementing conflict of interest assertions in WS-policy with separation of duties for Web Services matchmaking process

A Web service is defined as an autonomous unit of application logic that provides either some business functionality or information to other applications through an Internet connection. Web services are based on a set of XML standards such as Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) and Web Services Description Language (WSDL). The benefits of adopting Web services over traditional business-to-business applications include faster time to production, convergence of disparate business functionalities, a significant reduction in total cost of development, and easy to deploy business applications for trading partners. However, Web services architectures are built on an insecure, unmonitored and shared environment, which is open to events such as security threats. Security concerns are the major barrier that prevents many business organisations from implementing or employing Web services. This paper discusses one of the classical security policies that deal with Conflict of Interest (CIR) - the Chinese wall security policy. The paper then extends this concept into specifying and implementing conflict of interest assertions in the newly developed WS-Policy. WS-Policy is an XML representation that provides a grammar for expressing Web services policies, to allow service locators to have a common interpretation of security requirements in the matchmaking process. In addition, this paper also discusses the concept of Separation of Duties (SoD) and its relationships with CIR in the context of matchmaking process. The paper will conclude with a prototype framework with “CIRService” and “SoDService” services for matchmaking process.

On the business value and technical challenges of adopting Web services

AbstractThis paper provides a balanced perspective of the business value and technical challenges of adopting Web services. Technology adoption is a continual challenge for both tool developers and enterprise users. Web services are a prime example of an emerging technology that is fraught with adoption issues. Part of the problem is separating marketing hype from business reality. Web services are network‐accessible interfaces to application functionality. They are built using Internet technologies such as XML and standard protocols such as SOAP. The adoption issues related to Web services are complex and multifaceted. For example, determining whether this technology is a fundamental advance, rather than something old under a new name, requires technical depth, business acumen, and considerable historical knowledge of past developments. A sample problem from the health care industry is used to illustrate some of the adoption issues. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Taking steps to secure Web services

Despite the promise, Web services present network administrators with a thorny problem: as network security becomes an increasing concern, Web services open up networks by letting outside users access databases, applications, and internal users. Traditional security techniques - such as virtual private networks or secure sockets layer (SSL) technology - cannot secure the large number of transactions that Web services can perform in a short time. Meanwhile, basic Web services transactions are unencrypted and unsecured, which creates the potential for disaster. It is thus important for Web services technology to have its own security mechanisms. In fact, industry observers have said the biggest obstacle to wider adoption of Web services has been security concerns. With this in mind, researchers are developing and implementing several Web services security approaches.

Specifying conflict of interest assertions in WS-policy with Chinese wall security policy

A Web service is defined as an autonomous unit of application logic that provides either some business functionality or information to other applications through an Internet connection. Web services are based on a set of XML standards such as Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) and Web Services Description Language (WSDL). The benefits of adopting Web services over traditional business-to-business applications include faster time to production, convergence of disparate business functionalities, a significant reduction in total cost of development, and easy to deploy business applications for trading partners. However, Web services architectures are built on an insecure, unmonitored and shared environment, which is open to events such as security threats. Security concerns are the major barrier that prevents many business organizations from implementing or employing Web services. This article discusses one of the classical security policies that deal with conflict of interest - the Chinese wall security policy. The article then extends this concept into specifying and implementing conflict of interest assertions in the newly developed WS-Policy. WS-Policy is an XML representation that provides a grammar for expressing Web services policies, to allow service locators to have a common interpretation of security requirements in the matchmaking process.