If you haven't implemented Internet applications yet, you may find yourself doing so soon. They're everywhere, and with the strategic importance of B2B and the growing power of Web Services Definition Language (WSDL), you'd better be ready when they land on your doorstep. Here's a guide to ramping up with the technology and tools, along with training suggestions for your staff. The challenge
Chances are you've been hearing plenty about Web services and Internet applications. Aside from the usual alphabet soup, vendors have been promising the holy grail of seamless business application integration since before the term "dot Net" ever left the Redmond campus. Well, as usual, the bad news is that Web services don't yet provide anything that's truly seamless, universal, or plug and play. But the good news is that an Internet application can help to automate and integrate your B2B systems, and it might be easier than you think. There are a couple of environments in which Web applications really shine. To begin with, the term itself is nearly synonymous with automation. If you're looking to improve productivity by automating processes such as inventory control or purchasing, an Internet application is probably in your future. Likewise, if you've been given the task of integrating two (or more) disparate systems, such as EDI and an XML-based supply chain system, you should be looking to Web services to accomplish your goal. The reason why Internet applications are so successful in these specific arenas is that the technology has accomplished the core of its original goal, which was to provide a platform- and protocol-independent means for a large number of systems to communicate quickly and accurately. With that said, if you think rolling out an Internet application might be in your future, there are a couple of questions you'll want to ask to be sure:

• Will the application need to be flexible/customisable in the future?
• Do you anticipate additional situations in which you'll need a similar Web application?

The answers to these and related questions should get you pointed in the direction of either a third-party application or a custom Web application to meet your needs. Generally, if you have a strict set of circumstances in which you will be rolling out the application and you don't expect them to change, you might look into a third-party app. For example, if your company, which runs MAS-90, has recently acquired a company that runs Great Plains, and your challenge is to allow order entry from the MAS-90 system to update inventory in the Great Plains system, a third-party app will probably fit the bill. However, take the example of a client who recently decided to purchase a new accounting system and now needs to tie inventory control and order processing to a major retailer's legacy EDI system. In this case, the amount of customisation needed will be significant, and it's likely that a wide range of other systems will also be connected to the new accounting package in the future. In this case, a custom Web application is probably the best solution. Either way, you should take some time to get familiar with the tools you'll be rolling out.