Making magic

Abracadabra, here's Gartner's most recent Magic Quadrant covering "Web-Services-Enabled Software" (3Q04). The category is defined here as "a composite market, with functionality embedded in software products that are not being developed or sold primarily for those capabilities." And as you can see, top honors go to Microsoft and IBM. Surprise, surprise, surprise.

Gartner explains that Big Blue's strength in "business issues, middleware and professional services" enables it to "augment its position in Web services/SOA through its major strategic offerings." And while IBM generally has stayed out of the software applications market, Gartner notes that the company may be "pressured" to enter the market for service-oriented business applications (SOBAs) due to the coming convergence of applications and infrastructures.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is recognized as a premier player in Web services largely due to its "strong developer position" and customer references. Further, Gartner contends Microsoft's influence in Web services "will increasingly be determined by the extent and success of its forays into business applications and its ability to articulate a SOBA strategy."

Gartner also recognizes SAP and Oracle as powerful players. We are encouraged to keep an eye on SAP's NetWeaver as a prominent development platform for Web services, SOBAs and composite applications. Oracle's growing strength, however, is tied to the release of its Application Server 10g, which has facilitated the development and deployment of Web services.