How to Fail with Web Services

I’ve been asked to deliver a keynote presentation at the 8th European Conference on Web Services (ECOWS) 2010, to be held in Aiya Napa, Cyprus this Dec 1-3. My topic is an exploration of the the anti-patterns that often appear in Web services projects.

Here’s the abstract in full:

How to Fail with Web Services

Enterprise computing has finally woken up to the value of Web services. This technology has become a basic foundation of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), which despite recent controversy is still very much the architectural approach favored by sectors as diverse as corporate IT, health care, and the military. But despite strong vision, excellent technology, and very good intentions, commercial success with SOA remains rare. Successful SOA starts with success in an actual implementation; for most organizations, this means a small proof-of-concept or a modest suite of Web services applications. This is an important first step, but it is here where most groups stumble. When SOA initiatives fail on their first real implementation, it disillusions participants, erodes the confidence of stakeholders, and even the best-designed architecture will be perceived as just another failed IT initiative. For over six years, Layer 7 has been building real Web services-based architectures for government clients and some of the world’s largest corporations. In this time, we have seen repeated patterns of bad practice, pitfalls, misinterpretations, and gaps in technology. This talk is about what happens when web Services moves out of the lab and into general use. By understanding this, we are better able to meet tomorrow’s challenges, when Web services move into the cloud.