Web services, usually including some combination of programming and data, are made available from a business's web server for web users and other web connected programs. The accelerating creation and availability of these services is a major computing trend as software becomes increasingly distributed and web-based. Web services are the next logical step for web-based computing and will have a profound impact on the way in which business is conducted on the web in the future. As they involve many different systems communicating with each other, they are particularly important following the proliferation in the range of computing devices (PDA's mobile telephones, hand held computers etc). This book will provide a comprehensive treatment of the concepts and isses in web services, looking at how they are designed, and the key technologies, and standards used.

This book focuses on recent developments in representational and processing aspects of complex data-intensive applications.

This collection of papers from the ICDCS conference focus on distributed computing/real-time systems. It covers topics such as: real-time communications; retrieval and caching of distributed information; fault tolerant systems; and consistency and load balancing for Web applications."

Two significant factors combine to drive the phenomenon of e-Business. Competition constantly motivates companies in their marketplaces, while rapidly developing information technologies offer new opportunities and challenges. For Mike Papazoglou and Piet Ribbers, both business and technology are integral to e-Business. They demonstrate here how a solid understanding of business, organization, management and technology is crucial to an understanding of what e-Business is today and how it is going to be shaped in the future. e-Business: Organisational and Technical Foundations focuses on the development of e-Business between and within enterprises. In particular it addresses how enterprises collaborate, what coordination mechanism are necessary and how this is reflected at the technical infrastructure level. It includes: Abundant real-world examples to encourage readers to understand and appreciate real-life e-Business An analytical and critical approach to understanding business issues, decision-making and technology use and development Extensive end of chapter discussion questions and assignments for students A companion website at www.wiley.com/go/ebusiness with additional exercises for students and PowerPoint slides and solutions for lecturers