ws-btm - Six into one should go!

["Furniss, Peter" <Peter.Furniss@choreology.com>]

Like everyone else, we've been thinking about the latest developments in
the business-transaction / web-service transaction/ service-oriented
coordiantion area, and the following is a statement of what we
(Choreology) think should happen:


We believe the increasing proliferation of specifications for web
services business transaction management - OASIS-BTP, WS-T AT, WS-T BA,
WS-TXM ACID, WS-TXM LRA, WS-TXM BP - only serves to confuse the market
and retard commercial development.

Web services are already playing a major role in interfacing
applications but they will never fulfill the promise of truly
interoperable connectivity between heterogeneous systems without a
common protocol. 

All of the existing specifications use the same fundamental two-phase
outcome principles, either explicitly or implicitly. It is Choreology's
view that they would align sufficiently to establish a common single
standard for web services transactions. The adoption of a single
standard based on the existing BTP, WS-T and WS-TXM protocols would not
only be feasible but would provide the industry with the relevant,
usable, single standard that it needs.

Why have six competing specifications for doing reliable business via
web services when one will do? You only have to look at HTTP and its
universal adoption for the World Wide Web to see the merits of one
protocol for one purpose.  

Of course, the converged standard would need further work to incorporate
some of the features that have become clear from user requirements and
which are not supported by any of the current specifications.

The BTP specification has already been implemented in five cases - by
HP, Choreology, Collaxa, Bullant and JOTM. Unlike any of the other
proposed specifications BTP has a second role to play in so far as it
provides a transactional capability for non-web services
implementations. We at Choreology firmly believe that this capability
should not be lost to the industry.


Alastair Green and Peter Furniss

(we hope to send a summary of some of the technical issues involved in
the convergence and the new features to this list before the call
tomorrow)


-----------------------------------------

   Cohesions 1.0 (TM)
   Business transaction management software for application coordination

web: http://www.choreology.com
email:  peter.furniss@choreology.com
phone:  +44 870 739 0066  <-- new, from 4 August 2003
mobile: +44 7951 536168