"Web Services" is fast becoming the hot technology buzz word. In short, this generic term refers to a group of standards that will enable software products to make automated, meaningful connections between trading partners. The vision of software applications independently navigating an electronic marketplace to evaluate options and complete transactions would surely streamline operational efficiencies in the real estate industry. Yet the concept sounds like science fiction. But is it?

In 2000, we were promised a world in which the Internet would transform the way we do business. This included two main components: ubiquitous bandwidth and smart machines. The promise of ubiquitous bandwidth would provide everyone with high-speed access to the Internet. This has come true to some extent, although many individuals and companies still operate with slow connections. Furthermore, what is thought of as high-speed access today, will both be dwarfed by future advancements and be required by future technologies.

The second promise was that our technology would be intelligent, containing software to seek out and find appropriate trading partners, determine languages and methods of connectivity, initiate meaningful conversations, obtain bids, and complete transactions. This would all occur without specific programs in place for the various potential trading partners. In other words, a software system could start the day not knowing what a widget is, but by the end of the day successfully place an order for one. This second assurance is one that still sounds unreachable, proposing a world that is so vastly different than the one in which we operate today. However, the reality is that the industry has a vision and a blueprint for how to make this happen.

A large number of industry players, most notably Sun Microsystems, are getting involved in web services as a new method of connection and exchange. Within the web services arena, XML (extensible markup language) has emerged as the "building block" or the underlying method for defining data. UDDI (universal description, discovery and integration) and SOAP (simple object access protocol) are two standards built on top of XML that serve as the "grammar" for the exchange. HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) or HTTPS, the secure version of HTTP, serves as the method of transport. At some point in the future, these building blocks will be used routinely in solutions that do deliver on the second promise.

THE FIRST GENERATION

Today, purchases can be made directly online with distributors by connecting to their order entry systems. This has become accepted as standard practice, but it still requires human involvement. So while it is convenient to be able to order goods and services 24 hours a day, it is not the end point. The ultimate goal of systems automatically discovering one another is still in the distant future.

Yet in-between these extremes lies a first generation of web services exchange that is happening here and now. Vendors are coming together to define standards for inter-company web services calls. For example, IBS has established a relationship with Workspeed Inc., a major provider of tenant work order services, that allows users to streamline all of the data exchange points between the two systems. This includes adding new tenants and spaces, obtaining billing information, updating work order status and invoice numbers, and other tasks. From the end user's point of view, the two software products operate seamlessly in a real-time sense. To achieve this, IBS and Workspeed have established agreed-upon SOAP protocols for the various transactions. Now, when an IBS client enters a new tenant on their system, the IBS system automatically makes a SOAP call to the Workspeed services site. Workspeed receives the message via HTTPS, adds the tenant, and sends an acknowledgement back to the IBS system that the transaction has been completed. This real-time exchange has replaced the conventional interface in which the user had specific, discrete interface points, both involving operator intervention as well as not occurring on a real-time basis.

In addition, this interchange allows Workspeed to send a SOAP package to the IBS system with work ticket information that enables our application to generate bills. After generating the bills, IBS makes another SOAP call to provide Workspeed with the invoice numbers. This enables tenants to use Workspeed to inquire about the status of their work orders and even view billing dates and invoice numbers. All of these web services calls take place within seconds of transactions occurring on either system.

PREPARING FOR THE SECOND GENERATION

This is one of the first real-time web services specifically formed for the real estate industry. And while it does break ground, it just scratches the surface of what is to come. We believe that web services is the right architecture for the next generation and have built an associated web services agent into IBS 10.0i, the new, browser-based version of our system. This fully dynamic environment adheres to the industry standard J2EE model and will provide a highway to accommodate future web services traffic.

Ultimately, systems across the board will exchange information and make real- time transactions dynamically, based on pre-determined directives. These truly would be the smart machines we have been promised. Today, we are already making progress using the same exciting technologies that will help us achieve that end goal. In 2003, we are beginning to see signs of this "science fiction" becoming reality. Within the next few years, we expect that a significant number of meaningful web services connections will be streamlining the business of real estate. By 2010, web services will have been an accepted and expected part of our world.

### Integrated Business Systems (IBS) has evolved into one of the New York Metropolitan Area's best-known and respected providers of in-house real estate computer management systems for real estate owners, developers and property managers. The company provides turnkey solutions for multi-user environments ranging from a few to hundreds of operators. Today, more than 100 of the region's most prominent real estate companies use the system. With a 22-year development history, the IBS software contains some 1,700 programs that address virtually all property management, accounting and construction management tasks. Written by real estate development, management and accounting professionals, the system provides unparalleled levels of functionality and auditability. For more information, please visit the firm's web site at www.ibsre.com.