Web services are emerging as the third generation of integration technology. Unlike EAI, which is based on proprietary standards and protocols, Web services is the first practical implementation
of standards-based integration. The Web services architecture is predicated upon reusable, modular components from existing software infrastructure, which can be published and discovered, and flexibly combined to build new "composite" applications.



It is built on top of widely accepted standards - including TCP/IP, HTTP, XML, and SOAP - leverages existing systems and developer skill sets. And it holds the promise of allowing reuse of business practices, which have been encapsulated in business logic and software functionality, without additional modification. As such, it poses minimal barriers to adoption, and promises to deliver on many of the benefits claimed by previous generations of integration, quickly, and at lower cost. However, early adopters will have to conquer some fundamental challenges relating to issues such as the security and management of Web services.