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Ajax and Web 2.0: friend or foe of SOA?

Mark Lillycrop
Principal Analyst
Arcati

	This is an abstract of an analysis that was first published in   MIDDLEWARESPECTRA. You can order a complete version of this analysis on line by clicking the order button above.

Management introduction

SOA has been on the lips of many executives as well as IT people over the past 2-3 years. Vendors love the concept, because it appears to remove the need for product recognition - so much can be rolled in underneath the SOA label (just look at how IBM is increasingly hiding its many products).

Ajax may be a further contributor, both to SOA and to the gradual disappearance of individual products. In this analysis, Mark Lillycrop examines the implications of Ajax and Web 2.0 for SOA in order to assess whether they compete or complement.

Figure 2.1: Ajax

Management conclusion

Ajax and Web 2.0 offer many advantages, as Mr. Lillycrop illustrates. The power has been seen with Google Earth - and this may only be the tip of an iceberg that embraces the enterprise as users are given the power to develop what they need.

Mr. Lillycrop concludes that Ajax and Web 2.0 do complement SOA. This will be a relief to many vendors. But he also makes the point that Ajax and Web 2.0's undoubted capabilities will only be accepted into the enterprise once governance and compliance issues have been addressed, as TIBCO, IBM, JackBe and others are starting to deliver.

	This is an abstract of an analysis that was first published in   MIDDLEWARESPECTRA. You can order a complete version of this analysis on line by clicking the order button above.