WS-I Announces New Profile Work for 2006

Web Services Interoperability Organization Initiates Work on Three New Profiles:
Basic Profile 1.2, Basic Profile 2.0 and Reliable Secure Profile 1.0

WAKEFIELD, Mass., May 1, 2006 - The Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I) today announced that the WS-I Board of Directors has approved two new working group charters, which will result in the development of three new WS-I profiles in 2006: the Basic Profile 1.2, Basic Profile 2.0 and the Reliable Secure Profile 1.0. WS I is a global industry organization that promotes consistent and reliable interoperability among Web services across platforms, applications and programming languages. More information about WS-I can be found at www.ws-i.org.

The first charter, a revision to the existing WS-I Basic Profile Working Group charter, will result in the development the Basic Profile 1.2 and the Basic Profile 2.0. The Basic Profile 1.2 will incorporate asynchronous messaging and will also consider SOAP 1.1 with Message Transmission Optimization Mechanism (MTOM) and XML-binary Optimized Packaging (XOP). The Basic Profile 2.0 will build on the Basic Profile 1.2 and will be based on SOAP 1.2 with MTOM and XOP. The second charter establishes a new working group, the Reliable Secure Profile Working Group, which will deliver guidance to Web services architects and developers concerning reliable messaging with security. Work on the new profiles will start immediately. The new working groups are expected to meet face-to-face at the WS-I Summer Community Meeting, which will be held next month in Ottawa, Canada.

"WS-I continues to be a leading force in the industry driving interoperability of Web services, and with the set of new profiles, WS-I is again this year challenging itself to take key steps forward," said newly appointed Chairman Michael Bechauf. "With these new profiles, WS-I is facilitating the advanced technical work to achieve the level of interoperability that the industry has eagerly anticipated. I want to thank our member companies and the Board of Directors which have taken this important step for the organization to the benefit of all."

WS-I is taking a significant step forward as it enhances the Basic Profile and provides guidance for interoperable asynchronous and reliable messaging," said Daniel Sholler, Vice President, Application Infrastructure and Middleware at Gartner. "WS-I's profiles are critical for making Web services interoperability a practical reality."

The Basic Profiles 1.2 and 2.0
The WS-I Basic Profile consists of implementation guidelines on how core Web services specifications should be used together to develop interoperable Web services. To date, WS-I has produced the Basic Profile 1.0 and 1.1. The Basic Profile 1.2 will be a revision of the WS-I Basic Profile 1.1 to incorporate the following specifications:


Once the Basic Profile 1.2 progresses to Working Group Approval Draft, the Basic Profile Working Group will focus on the development of the Basic Profile 2.0, which will be based upon the following specifications:


"These new versions of the Basic Profile will provide a solid foundation for Web services and for more advanced profiles such as the Reliable Secure Profile," said Chris Ferris, Chair of the WS-I Basic Profile Working Group. "Now that the WS-Addressing specification has reached Proposed Recommendation status within the W3C, architects and developers will be looking to WS-I to provide interoperability guidance for asynchronous messaging."

WS-I to Develop Reliable Messaging Profile
The newly chartered Reliable Secure Profile Working Group will begin developing scenarios, requirements and profile guidance in parallel with the related standardization efforts within the OASIS WS-Reliable Exchange Technical Committee. The working group's primary deliverable is the WS-I Reliable Secure Profile (RSP) 1.0 which will provide guidance to architects and developers concerning reliable messaging with security. RSP 1.0 will be based upon the following specifications:


The scenarios and requirements work will consider interoperability issues identified across a wide range of Web services applications (e.g., mobile, devices, intermediaries, enterprise applications, etc.). A Chair for the Reliable Secure Profile Working Group will be named shortly.

The Basic Profile 1.2 and 2.0, and the Reliable Secure Profile 1.0, when practical, will cleanly compose with other WS-I profiles delivered to date.

Testimonials from WS-I Board of Directors in support of the new profile work can be found at: www.ws-i.org/press.

About WS-I
WS-I is an open industry organization that promotes consistent and reliable interoperability among Web services across platforms, applications and programming languages. The organization unites a diverse community of Web services companies to provide guidance, recommended practices and supporting resources for developing interoperable Web services. For more information, please visit www.ws-i.org, or e-mail info@ws-i.org.

Public Relations Contact:
Christian Danella
Prequent, Inc. (for WS-I)
(408) 275-6488 office
(415) 350-4830 mobile
christian@prequent.com