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BEA, IBM, MS, SAP, Sun Submit WS-Addressing Specification To W3C

BEA Systems Inc, IBM Corp, Microsoft Corp, SAP AG and Sun Microsystems Inc announced the submission of the latest version of a key Web services specification, WS-Addressing, to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) as input into the standardization process.

WS-Addressing helps enable organizations to build reliable and interoperable Web services applications by defining a standard mechanism for identifying and exchanging Web services messages between multiple end points. With a standard way to express where a message should be delivered in a Web services network, developers are able to simplify Web services communication and development and avoid the need to develop costly, ad hoc solutions that are often difficult to interoperate across platforms.

With the acknowledgement by the W3C, the joint submission of WS-Addressing represents a milestone in the collaboration among BEA, IBM, Microsoft, SAP and Sun to further advance Web services technology. Backed by significant industry support, the submission of WS-Addressing is also a part of a longer term effort to provide a standards-based foundation for the development of secure, transacted, asynchronous and reliable Web services.

WS-Addressing is a key part of the core Web services architecture. In particular, the specification is designed to underlie other specifications, such as WS-ReliableMessaging, WS-Federation and WS-AtomicTransaction, providing a consistent, interoperable and standards-based mechanism for Web services addressing.

The submission also further demonstrates all the co-authors' commitment to the development of open industry standards to drive widespread adoption of Web services. With the intent of easing adoption, the co-authors will not charge royalties in conjunction with WS-Addressing. The co-authors of this specification look forward to future collaboration in bringing together a cohesive Web services architecture.

About Sun Microsystems Inc

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer" -- has propelled Sun Microsystems Inc to its position as a provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com.