Analyst: Google Chrome 'SOA ready'

There's been plenty of excellent commentary about Google's new Chrome browser provided by my colleagues here in the ZDNet community, so I'm not going to go into any nitty-gritty here.

But to look at it from an enterprise perspective, Chrome may help lay the groundwork for a smoother path to service oriented architecture as well. Dave Linthicum observes that Chrome is a great leap toward finally abstracting computing away from native operating systems.

This is a good thing, and when it comes to both service orientation and Enterprise 2.0 computing -- which both rely on services delivered and consumed from the network -- the client operating system is now only something that gets in the way.

The rise of Netscape a decade ago heralded the rise of Web or Internet-based computing, and dramatically shifted the landscape in client/server computing. Looking beyond client/server computing, Dave says he views the browser as really the next platform, "something that will allow you to access a multitude of rich Internet applications, services, and have them work and play well together, no matter if you're on a traditional desktop, phone, PDA, or a screen in your car."

As Dave observes, a browser built by and for the Web will help make SOA -- which is all about mixing and matching applications, processes, and services -- more of a reality to the business. Already, mashups -- the ultimate composite apps -- are making the concept real for many.

"Having a browser that is built for the use of services, Internet delivered or internal, using better operating and security mechanisms, could revolutionize the way we look at SOA. Services can be seen, thus understood, and 'sex on the screen' SOA-driven applications will wow 'em in the boardroom."

Dave emphasizes that new Web-aware browsers and platforms such as Chrome help make a better case for SOA to the business. I agree, and we see the proof in the pudding with the mashup/Enterprise 2.0 phenomenon -- everybody gets it right away. Chrome can only help.

So there's the SOA connection.