John Hagel III’s book, Out Of the Box (subsequently ref. to as OOTB)  has a Web site,  linked to a Weblog at JohnHagel.com.  It is less a technical book about Web services and more of an attempt to interpret for Business execs what Web Services could mean for business.  Hagel wrote Net Gain about 6 years ago,  attempting to interpret what Online Community could mean.  Most businesses didn’t get it.  More seem to getting the Web Services promise,  but have yet to make the moves neccessary to actually apply resources to learning XML and the swirl of development happening in SOAP, RSS,  and related technologies. 

Web Services represents the first new technology that addresses the problem of integrating existing business applications,  especially Web-based applications, Hagel affirms.  “The architecture is designed to ensure that applications and data can be accessed by authorized entities, regardless of location or underlying technology platforms” (p. 24)