Application of Web Services in Data Sharing

Abstract

Current approaches in distributed computing are not sufficient to completely meet the needs for cross-platform application-to-application integration. The present trend is moving away from tightly coupled monolithic systems towards systems of loosely coupled components. The new Web Services concept was designed to meet these' requirements of businessto- business application interaction. Web Services are based on a set of open, platform independent standards to reach a high level of acceptance. Organizations have policies which govern their operations. These operations may be a duplication of other organizations efforts thereby wasting resources. A method is desired which enables similar organizations to benefit from each other or improve their operations. Sharing their data is one move in this direction. Data sharing involves letting others access your databases which is definitely risky. This study describes the possibilities for development of Web Services for data sharing and/or exchange between disparate systems. A case study demonstrates tasks related with Web Services development, and its invocation at runtime. A data synchronization web service is used to report on loan defaulters places of work after a comparative search is performed between HELB and NHIF databases. The case study is implemented on two different database platforms showing a concept of heterogeneity and platform independence which is web services strong case. SOAP Message delivery is secured by encryption and decryption while a login mechanism keep off intruders.