Homework #6

The existence of standards such as HTML and HTTP has been vital to the success and increased use of the World Wid Web. Explain why?

The standards have been made to simplify the exchange and the publish of information. The medium of internet is based on these standards such as HTML. It has been widely adopted because it offers hyperlinks which allow users to move quickly from a content to another (surfing). HTML allows the surfer to access documents simply. There are several types of documents such as images, videos, which are directly integrated into the pages. A real interaction between the person and the content is then possible : looking for information, comment, download.

The combination of web browsers and HTML established widespread business use of internet. The standardization of tools means information can be exchanged with many business and consumers.

The HTTP protocol defines the way information is transmitted, and as it is a standard it allows the information to widespread quickly and efficiently.

What benefits to a Biz 2 Biz company does the XML standard offer beyond those of HTML?

HTML had a limited capability for describing the data on web pages and for describing documents through HTML meta-tags. In order to go over these limitations, an effort coordinated by the World Wide Web Consortium was made and it end up with a solution : the XML standard that can coexist with the HTML. They are both markup languages but XML is extensibl which means that new markup tags can be created that facilitate the searching and exchange of information such as a product name, color, manufacturer…

For a B2B company, Internet and XML changed the usage of costly systems such as Electronic Information Exchange (EDI) and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). The trend towards XML is expected to expand and diversify as more applications of available technologies are employed to gain advantage in the age of electronic information. Business exchanges are standardized using business processes, core data components, collaboration protocol agreements, messaging and registries and repositories.

Read Case Study 3.1 and answer the case question

Discuss the extent to which SOA will reduce reliance on a single provider of enterprise software and increase flexibility in deploying new applications and functionality.

For a long time, business companies relied on the few enterprise softwares providers. These softwares were not flexible and companies had to build their business processes around these IT systems. Moreover there was an inability to redesign IT systems quickly to support new business processes which means that companies paid a lot of money for a software that was going to be rapidly outdated.

Companies want to extend their business processes to get closer to customers. With the service-oriented architecture, companies can find softwares suiting their specific needs and they do not have to rely on a single software provider anymore. This new generation of corporate softwares is more flexible and it is better for both employees and customers. SOA leads to better components and better interfaces, which means better inter-operability and software efficiency.

However, this flexibility in the choice of multiple softwares create issues. For example, companies working together (a supplier and a retailer) depend on each other. They have to use the same softwares to be understood.