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Web services are based on four emerging Internet standards:

8 September, 2015 - 14:52
  • XML schema;
  • Simple Object Access Protocol (Soap);
  • Web Services Definition Language (WSDL); and,
  • Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI).

Each of these emergent standards forms an important foundation piece for the provision of Web services. The XML schema provides the common syntax for representing data. The Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) provides the semantics for data exchange. The Web Services Description Language (WSDL) provides a mechanism to describe the capabilities of a Web service. Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) is an XML-based registry that allows businesses worldwide to list themselves on the Internet. Registering allows them to streamline their online transactions by enabling other businesses to find them on the Web. But more importantly, using Web services should make the various company systems interoperable for e-commerce. UDDI is often compared to a telephone bookís yellow pages; it allows businesses to list themselves by name, product, location, or the Web services they offer.

Web services enable computer systems on any platform to communicate over corporate intranets, extranets, and across the Internet. Therefore they have the potential to become the next major step in the ongoing evolution of the Internet. As such, Web services have the potential to redefine the world of B2B technologies. With the deployment of a platform using Web services, companies can have more opportunities to identify and communicate with existing and potential members of their supply chain, either suppliers or customers. Unlike earlier e-commerce technologies, the use of Web services allows for complete platform independence. Platform independence helps to reduce the integration problems between different corporate systems that have been the bane of B2B and other systems developers for the past forty years.