Web 2.0 is one of those marketing words I don't like to use that often, but unlike SOA 2.0, the Web 2.0 is a reality. It's really a change in platform at its essence, but there are also many social issues there as well...information sharing, collaboration, and social networking to name a few. I always enjoy reading Dion's stuff, he's Mr. Web 2.0 as it seems, but also focuses on making the Web work and play well with existing and emerging enterprises, that's key. But can your enterprise see the emerging Web?

What's important to remember is that there is a huge resource that is being created on the Web these days. This includes access to SaaS applications, such as Salesforce.com, that are better than their enterprise bound counterparts, service marketplaces, such as StrikeIron, and even mash-able applications that you can mix and match with other Web 2.0 applications or enterprise applications to solve business problem quickly.

However, having such a resource available for the price of a broad-band connection does not mean you'll be able to leverage it properly. Indeed, it's going to take some time before your enterprise is prepared to leverage the emerging Web beyond the browser. The best way is to design and deploy the first generation SOA with the Web 2.0 in mind, or in other words making your enterprises systems "exposable" to services or applications outside of your firewall, or "able to consume" the same services or applications. This is harder than it sounds, and chances are your current systems can’t see outside of their own operating systems.

Truth-be-told most SOAs will have the side benefit of being able to leverage the Web 2.0 stuff as a resource, services for example, but I assert that you need to design for that in order to make your infrastructure most effective. This means cataloging and testing services you don't own, attempting to mashup systems inside and outside of your firewalls, and making sure your security planning considers this notion as well. Many who don't plan for this will be stuck with an enterprise that can't see the new Web, and I think those enterprises will have a huge strategic disadvantage in the years to come.

Posted by Dave Linthicum on August 9, 2006 06:02 AM