WS-I must add Sun to board now
A month ago, Microsoft and IBM formed the Web Services Interoperability (WS-I) organization, an industry consortium dedicated to promoting best practices for Web services. It's hard to overstate the WS-I's importance--mainly because it's the first major industry organization devoted to Web services and boasts dozens of titans as members, including Accenture, BEA Systems, Compaq, Ford, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, Qwest, SAP, United Airlines, and VeriSign. More practically, the WS-I is important because ensuring that Web services interoperate and conform to standards is absolutely vital. If they don't--and Web services enablers or providers factionalize--the whole proposition falls apart.
Too bad the WS-I has already gotten off on the wrong foot. The reason: Sun Microsystems hasn't joined yet--and the circumstances surrounding its absence smack of hardball politics. Although Bill Gates derided Sun for not signing on during his February 13 introduction of Microsoft's Visual Studio .Net, Sun was invited to join just days before -- and then, according to Sun, only as a contributor, not as a board member or founder. In fact, Sun was only informed of the WS-I's existence by IBM on the evening of February 4 (see Web services push attracts a crowd)--nine days before Gates' comments, and within 48 hours of the WS-I's February 6 launch. That's hardly enough time to do the necessary due diligence for when a chief competitor approaches you about joining an industry group, let alone enough time for competitors to credibly rattle their sabers. By contrast, Oracle's senior director of Oracle9i product marketing, John Magee, told ZDNet that his company had been invited to join in early January.
According to Sun spokesperson Russell Castronovo, Sun sent the WS-I a request to become a board member three weeks ago and still hasn't received a response. Microsoft and IBM clearly yanked Sun's chain with a last-minute invite--but could they also be equivocating over whether to give Sun the same status in the WS-I enjoyed by the other vendors? Chris Thomas, chief strategist for e-business at Intel--another WS-I board member--was happy to provide his opinion. "In terms of allowing Sun to be a board member, there shouldn't be any question at all," Thomas told us. "Including Sun [as a board member] makes sense."
An interoperability organization that doesn't accord proper status to the company responsible for Java--the technology on which most WS-I members' Web services platforms rest--can scarcely claim to be to be an impartial entity. And that's bad news for Web services. Up until now, Microsoft and IBM have offered admirable leadership in hammering out Web services protocols, conjuring a future vision of Internet-based applications, and marshalling resources to develop cutting-edge tools. The WS-I and its mission to foster best practices across platforms seemed like another good sign. But if there are darker motives afoot--such as a desire to neutralize Sun--the unprecedented industry excitement around Web services could give way to suspicion and doubt.
The WS-I is reportedly holding its first board meeting this week. It's hard to imagine the circumstances under which such an important interoperability group wouldn't, at this meeting, approve Sun's request to join as a board member. The sooner Sun is given a prominent seat at the WS-I table, the better.
David Berlind also contributed to this article.