No one proclaimed it a movement, but Intel Corp.'s purchase of XML networking vendor Sarvega Inc., coupled with Cisco Systems Inc.'s Application-Oriented Networking foray, has put some major corporate muscle behind the notion that Web services can and will rely on a service-oriented network backbone.
Those watching the XML networking space only expect it to become more crowded with vendors like Nortel Networks Ltd., 3Com Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. among the possible next wave of entrants.
"There's a great big picture battle going on here about where the intelligence in a service-oriented architecture should lie," said Jason Bloomberg, an analyst for ZapThink LLC. "On one hand you have the message-centric middleware model, on the other is the intelligent network approach."
Bloomberg explained that, as XML devices, chip sets and network agents mature, they could take over the space traditionally occupied by integration software, eliminating the middleman, if you will.
