Results of a survey of software developers suggest that nearly half of all web services are being deployed outside the enterprise firewall to bridge business partners with an access route to company data.
"Currently, the perception is that web services, whether based on .NET or the J2EE platform, have yet to break through the firewall," said Chris Purrington, managing director for Borland Software Corp. But the survey by the Scotts Valley, California-based software vendor showed that of 100 developers and IT directors polled, some 57% are developing web services applications through the firewall, chiefly to give third parties remote access to enterprise data. "The adoption of web services in Europe is more advanced than previously thought," said Purrington.
The results point to J2EE as being the most popular web services platform, with 38% of respondents developing in Java. Some 15% of organizations were found to be using a combination of .NET and J2EE.