Web services has been heralded as the greatest thing since the last great overhyped technology (pick your favorite). In the year or two since Web services arrived as a mainstream technology, some have touted that the technology spells the end of middleware altogether because it leverages freely available open standards. Why would CIOs pay a middleware vendor for what they could do themselves with a minimum of fuss, using connections already built into every application they own?In fact, reports of the demise of middleware are not just exaggerated, they are completely incorrect. First, Web services by definition is a subset of and complement to traditional middleware, rather than a mutually exclusive technology. Most middleware customers today are evaluating how to inject Web services into existing environments to achieve ever greater speed and efficiency. And many longtime middleware vendors are looking to move their products into a Web services space, sometimes by providing the management tools necessary to properly orchestrate Web services. (It’s one thing to say that two Web services will talk nicely to each other; it’s another entirely to make a few dozen of them work effectively together.)For another thing, Web services is an unproven technology that is still at the early adopter stage. The Web services honeymoon is not yet over. Web services often uses a polling architecture in which the Web service polls the legacy system to access its data. That can add up to a major performance hit on the mission-critical mainframe systems. And when you open up a critical system to a Web application under Web services, security issues are bound to arise?issues that must be addressed before Web services can hope to completely take over as the next evolution of middleware. -L.G.P. Related content brandpost Sponsored by Freshworks When your AI chatbots mess up AI ‘hallucinations’ present significant business risks, but new types of guardrails can keep them from doing serious damage By Paul Gillin Dec 08, 2023 4 mins Generative AI brandpost Sponsored by Dell New research: How IT leaders drive business benefits by accelerating device refresh strategies Security leaders have particular concerns that older devices are more vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks. By Laura McEwan Dec 08, 2023 3 mins Infrastructure Management case study Toyota transforms IT service desk with gen AI To help promote insourcing and quality control, Toyota Motor North America is leveraging generative AI for HR and IT service desk requests. By Thor Olavsrud Dec 08, 2023 7 mins Employee Experience Generative AI ICT Partners feature CSM certification: Costs, requirements, and all you need to know The Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) certification sets the standard for establishing Scrum theory, developing practical applications and rules, and leading teams and stakeholders through the development process. By Moira Alexander Dec 08, 2023 8 mins Certifications IT Skills Project Management Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe