Systems Integration User Survey Shows Web Services' Popularity and Misconception (Executive Summary) Executive Summary

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1 Systems Integration User Survey Shows Web Services' Popularity and Misconception (Executive Summary) Executive Summary Publication Date: 9 May 2003

2 Author Michele Cantara This document has been published to the following Marketplace codes: ITSV-WW-EX-0303 For More Information... In North America and Latin America: In Europe, the Middle East and Africa: In Asia/Pacific: In Japan: Worldwide via gartner.com: Entire contents 2003 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this publication in any form without prior written permission is forbidden. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Gartner disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. Gartner shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in the information contained herein or for interpretations thereof. The reader assumes sole responsibility for the selection of these materials to achieve its intended results. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice

3 Systems Integration User Survey Shows Web Services' Popularity and Misconceptions (Executive Summary) Overview Considerable hype and confusion surround Web services. Web services will not resolve all enterprise integration problems, won't transform businesses single-handedly and can't integrate businesses indiscriminately. As with any overhyped phenomenon, the usefulness of Web services must be put into perspective. Web services can make it easier to link to selected business partners and can simplify application integration. Web services represent a new development and integration paradigm for many enterprises. As a result, many enterprises will turn to SIs for assistance in using Web services technologies. Gartner Dataquest estimates that the worldwide market for consulting, and development and integration services relating to Web services integration software was $7.4 billion in 2002 and will reach $14.3 billion by (See "System Integrators and Users Advance Web Services Use in 2002," [ITES-WW-MT-0110].) Study Objectives Survey Methodology GiventhemagnitudeoftheWebservicesskillsgapwithinenterprises,Gartner Dataquest has undertaken a series of end-user surveys addressing end user adoption of Web services in consulting and systems integration projects. Gartner Dataquest discusses the results of the most recent February 2003 survey. The Gartner Dataquest study examines the following information: Analysis of end-user data (gathered in February 2003) on the use of Web services technologies and products in consulting and systems integration engagements Comparison of end-user survey results from February 2003, August 2002, and February 2002 analyzing the adoption of Web services in consulting and systems integration projects over a twelve month period Related Documents A detailed analysis of the August 2002 survey is available in "Systems Integrators and End Users Advance Web Services Use in 2002" (ITES-WW-MT-0110). A detailed analysis of the February 2002 survey is available in "Consulting and Systems Integration Users Adopt Web Services" (ITSV-WW-DP-0378). In January and February 2003, Griggs-Andersen, conducted a telephone survey on behalf of Gartner Dataquest. This survey was designed to identify user wants and needs with respect to consulting and systems integration services. This survey resulted in 50 completes. A number of questions within this survey pertained to the use of Web services technologies and products within consulting and systems integration projects. Forty-six of the 50 respondents provided feedback on the Web services portion of this survey. All respondents were from North American enterprises with annual revenue over $500 million. Additionally, all respondents were senior IT or business managers involved in purchase decision making for consulting and systems integration services Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved. 1

4 2 Systems Integration User Survey Shows Web Services' Popularity and Misconception (Executive Summary) Key Findings The following are key findings of the study: Recommendations to Vendors Users claim that virtually all (92 percent) current systems integration projects and systems integration projects planned by February 2004 involve Web services. Web services have clearly hit the mainstream in terms of gaining user attention. However, users' notions of Web services appear to be relatively unsophisticated. Survey data show that, in most cases, users are only using Extensible Markup Language (XML) and are less frequently using other Webservicesstandards,suchasSimpleObjectAcessProtocol(SOAP),Web Services Description Language (WSDL) or Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI). Most of these current or planned user deployments of Web services will not meet Gartner Dataquest's criteria for using Web services. Gartner Dataquest defines Web services as "loosely coupled components over standard networks," which employ one of the following technologies: SOAP, WSDL and UDDI to perform distributed computing Use of any of the basic technologies SOAP, WSDL or UDDI constitutes a Web service. Use of all of them is not required, although the use of SOAP also requires XML. (See "Management Update: A Common Sense Definition of Web Services" [IGG ]) Large enterprises preferred J2EE vs. Microsoft.NET as their Web services architecture of choice in systems integration projects. Eighty-six percent of users note usage of XML in current or planned systems integration projects, but only 31 percent are using or planning to use SOAP in these projects. An XML-only approach is unlikely to produce significant Web services benefits and this practice may contribute to future user disillusionment with Web services. The top three Web services development platforms used in current or planned systems integration projects were offered by leading database vendors, namely Microsoft, Oracle and IBM. Additionally, the same three vendors dominated the selection of top three Web services integration platforms in current and planned systems integration projects. The Web services management platform market is in its early stages. Most users don't know which platform they plan to use. Among those who do know, IBM Tivoli and CA Unicenter dominate selections, indicating Web services extensions to traditional management platforms and market clout in this space will be difficult barriers to entry for smaller pure-play software vendors to address. There are dual usage patterns of Web services in systems integration projects. Web services appear to be used primarily for intraenterprise integration or to integrate many partners in the context of a B2B solution. Based on study results, Gartner Dataquest offers the following recommendations to vendors: Consultants and SIs should be aware that Web services are crossing a chasm. Ninety-two percent of all SI users are interested in Web services, according to these research findings. Last year's Web services offerings that appealed to leading-edge adopters will not necessarily appeal to more risk-averse cus Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved. 9 May 2003

5 Systems Integration User Survey Shows Web Services' Popularity and Misconceptions (Executive Summary) 3 tomers that characterize the post-chasm mainstream, and who are under the impression that an XML-only approach is sufficient to obtain the full benefits of a Web services implementation. Web services solutions portfolios should be redesigned to address more mainstream customers. Consultants and SIs may wish to limit their skills development investments to the top three to five leading Web services, development and integration platforms, and utilize other platforms on an opportunistic basis at the customer's request. The market for Web services management platforms at this point is highly immature and for this reason, SIs will need to have some familiarity with many of the products and hosted services in this domain. The development and integration platforms of large database vendors, Microsoft, IBM and Oracle, are the top choices of most end users. Smaller softwarevendorsthatwillhavemoredifficultyinattractingend-userand systems integration channel attention should take a vertical market or business process specific approach to their Web services capabilities to establish a strong presence in a specific market niche. For the full report, see the Gartner Dataquest User Wants and Needs "Systems Integration User Survey Shows Web Services' Popularity and Misconceptions" (ITES-WW-UW-0113) Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved. 9 May 2003