IT Services News

Software company Microsoft is currently deciding whether to join a Web services standards effort dubbed as the Web Services Test Forum. The program is also participated by huge IT companies such as IBM, Oracle, among others. However, Microsoft is a bit uncertain about the idea as it sees it redundant.

Steve Martin, Microsoft’s senior director of developer platform product management, expressed his doubt in a blog about Microsoft’s effort to join WSTF. Martin also said Web services standards are already fully developed and apt in handling difficult situations that come to light.

Martin also added, As of today, the WS-* standards are largely complete within W3C, OASIS, WS-I, DMTF, etc. and are widely implemented in infrastructure products and used by organizations all over the world. We were thrilled to participate in the Oasis announcement just last week on WS-RX, WS-TX and WS-SX. With regard to testing, we think it is critical that customers be able to propose scenarios that match their real-world interoperability needs. Equally important—both successes and failures must be made public. This is why we’re still evaluating our participation in WSTF.

The Web Services Test Forum was introduced last December, administering an open community and aiming to enhance the quality of the web services standards. Pioneer members include Active Endpoints, AIAG, Axway, Cisco Systems, Eviware, Ford Motor, Fujitsu, Hitachi, IBM, Oracle, Red Hat, Software AG, Teamlog and TIBCO Software.