The move by database developers to include object-oriented programming languages has changed the scope of application development and is acting as a catalyst for web services development. Being able to define stored procedures in object-oriented languages is leading to an entirely new approach to creating workflows and supporting transactions in manufacturing and services industries.
Despite the availability of object-oriented programming languages, however, many systems still rely on file server, two-tier, or n-tier architectures. Web services, many internally developed, show what object-oriented programming tools can deliver. For many manufacturers, this starts with tying supply chains with the equivalent of hand-built adapters that cannot scale across all the transactions the manufacturer needs. Many manufacturers are holding onto their hand-built adapter strategies to integration, just as web services are starting to prove themselves. The bottom line, however, is that web services work for integration today—yet are still unproven for completely replacing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems that include complex distributed order management, supply chain synchronization, and customer fulfillment.
