XML is the prominent technology enabler in this phase. What we're trying to do is not just deliver it over the network but also deliver it through the network of networks, through the service grid, and add the appropriate context so we can add a layer of intelligence and start to define value. Sun believes that Web services will evolve into smart services that provide greater value and a richer user experience than the current crop of services. Smart services will be easy to customize and personalize, well beyond today's generic Web services. Without such intelligence, Web services will be unable to meet the dynamic demands of consumer and business markets alike.
Several factors affect the drive to smart Web services.
At some point, processing power has to be distributed to keep up with communications growth. Since this growth occurs not in a plane but in multiple dimensions, the volume of possibilities for change increases dramatically. The value of a network scales as the square of the number of people connected to it. In the case of the Internet, for example, the more people who use it, the more useful it becomes. Decomposition and Drive to Components Creating larger and larger systems maxes out at a certain point, and things must be distributed.