- What's Really Happening in Web Services Today?
- ROI for Web Services Is Still Elusive
- Service-Oriented Architectures by Any Other Name
- Where SOA Is Working
- Summary
ROI for Web Services Is Still Elusive
Of the manufacturers using web services, ROI is proving elusive to quantify, much less track over time. Because the majority of companies developing web services don't do ROI analysis before starting development, they often have high expectations that are not met. The majority of web services adopters don't define ROI targets, either; they rely on headcount reductions to show ROI. This is clearly a copout because cost reductions and greater efficiencies taken together should deliver gains in revenue—either directly, as the result of serving customers more responsively, or indirectly, by streamlining workflows. Second to headcount reductions, companies are looking at reduction of the costs of integration, data entry, and value-added network costs as the approaches to show positive ROI for internal web services developments.