Web services: enabling business integration and collaboration

Summary form only given. The emergence of Web Services represents a significant advance in the continuing evolution of e-business. Web services are self-contained, modular business process applications, based on open standards, that enables an integration model for facilitating program-to-program interaction. What does this mean? For the first time, Business-to-Business applications have a flexible way to discover and compose services into powerful business solutions. It is a step stone technology that supports the vision of Dynamic e-business-the dynamic adaptation of business process, collaboration, and choreography leading to the realization of innovative business strategies, offerings and relationships.