IBM To 'WOW' Solution Providers With New Partner Initiative

IBM

IBM, based here, plans to launch the program, called Web Services on WebSphere (WOW), at its PartnerWorld show this month in San Francisco, said a solution provider who requested anonymity.

IBM could not be reached for comment.

WOW will provide partners with both marketing support and technology to help them build and deploy Web services, the source said. "This is a way of mobilizing visibility and resources to help partners affect the thinking in the marketplace and accelerate the adoption [of Web services," he said.

Web services garnered much attention in 2001 as Java-based software companies such as Sun, IBM and BEA Systems built Web services strategies to combat Microsoft's .Net initiative. Despite all this hype, however, industry deployment was limited, and observers said only early adopters will implement Web services in 2002.

To increase that adoption rate, IBM and Microsoft earlier this week joined forces to lead a group of technology companies--including Oracle, Intel, SAP, WebMethods and Accenture--in an effort to develop interoperability of Web services on multiple platforms and disparate development environments.

The group, called the Web Services Interoperability Organization, will develop best-practice guides, interoperability testing tools and sample applications aimed at instructing solution providers how to build and deploy Web services.