Lifecycle of a Web Services Specification

Before they are supported by Microsoft’s OSs, applications, and developer tools, Web services enhancements move through the following series of steps:

Development. Web services specifications are initially developed by a very small group-usually Microsoft and one or two of its closest Web services partners, such as IBM.

Announcement. Once the specification is at what Microsoft calls a “0.8” version-in other words, a point at which most, but not necessarily all, of the major issues have been resolved-the company and its partners make the specification available on their Web sites.

Workshops. Because it recognizes the unfinished nature of the initial specifications, Microsoft and its partners hold a series of workshops. Sometimes these are “feedback” workshops in which the specification’s authors solicit technical feedback from the developer community. Other times they are “interop” workshops at which individuals or companies with implementations of a specification test interoperability. Feedback workshops usually happen within four to six months of the initial release of the specification and are the best chance for customers and partners to influence the technical content of the specification. Prior to this point, the specification is too preliminary for effective feedback; after this point, standards bodies have begun the work necessary for ratification.