Who should unclog the Web pipes to keep information flowing?
My local bank is switching from one online bill-payment system to another. I’m looking forward to the new system, which will be an improvement on the current one, but I wasn’t expecting this: “IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR CURRENT BILL PAYMENT CUSTOMERS: When we switch to this new system you will be required to re-enter the payee data you have set up under our current system.” Nobody likes to have to send this message, and nobody likes to receive it. Pre-Web, the sender might have been justified in saying, “My hands are tied. Our partner doesn’t offer that feature. There’s nothing I can do about it.” And pre-Web, the recipient might have had to accept that explanation. But since 1994 or so, things have been different. Integrating two Web-based systems, if only by brute force, is not only necessary but possible. If I can log in to both systems and drive them interactively, I can write a script to join them programmatically. Every Web application can be tortured into behaving like a Web service,
