STAMFORD, CONN., July 28, 2003 -- Many companies want to execute a Web services program, but a lot of those companies are not taking the proper steps for success. By 2007, enterprises will spend nearly $1 billion on software licenses for Web services provider platforms that were unnecessary because they lacked an overall Web services implementation strategy, according to Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB).

Gartner's new report, "Harnessing the Power of Web Services and Middleware: Building and Deploying Integrated Applications for the Agile Enterprise," provides comprehensive guidance on the implementation plans and supporting technologies and services that enterprises need to develop successful Web services and application integration strategies. It provides recommendations, planning guidance, trend forecasts, and in-depth analysis of software infrastructure issues that are critical to IS organizations and business management.

"Now is the time for enterprises to take stock of what is available, or will be shortly, and start to experiment with Web services," said Larry Perlstein, managing vice president in Gartner research. "Enterprises must be careful to avoid expecting too much from any single implementation, and should balance expectations against real capabilities."

Gartner analysts said enterprises should take inventory of the Web services platform technologies they may already have in-house today, and find out what they will need tomorrow. An enterprise should not expect to succeed with a single-provider strategy, or expect that everything will interoperate successfully with everything else.

"Leading edge enterprises are rapidly finding out where Web services are of most value, and the answer is 'not everywhere,'" Perlstein said. "Traditional integration mechanisms will continue to play an important role well into the future. So our advice is to pick your battles carefully."

Additional information is available in Gartner's Executive Report on Web services and application integration. This 301-page report is an offering from the new Gartner Executive Report Library, a five-set series from Gartner Press that provides buyers with comprehensive printed reports on topics of critical interest to today's business and IT executives. The report features 21 fact- and advice-filled chapters, two appendices on Gartner Hype Cycles (one for Web services and the other for application integration and platform middleware), a glossary of terms and 104 figures, including five "Magic Quadrant" vendor evaluations and four Hype Cycles.

Topics addressed in the Executive Report include:

Source: Gartner