Web services specs seek common ground

Backers of two overlapping standards submissions for reliable messaging will seek to reconcile their specifications, a standards group said Tuesday.

The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards, or OASIS, said the vendors behind the two reliable-messaging specifications have agreed to "advance development" within the standards body. Several Web services specifications, which aim to create standard communication and programming protocols, are being handled within OASIS.

Currently, there is an OASIS standard called Web Services Reliability that was created by several companies, including Oracle, Fujitsu and Hitachi Software.

Last month, another group of companies, led by IBM, Microsoft, BEA Systems and Tibco Software, submitted a similar technical document to OASIS for consideration as a standard. That specification, Web Services Reliable Exchange, is backed by companies with significantly more market share than the authors of Web Services Reliability.

Changes to the reliable messaging formats will be "considered and evaluated based on technical merit, business requirements of users and the committee's charter," according to a statement from OASIS.

"Until now, there have been two duplicative efforts...This has caused some end-user confusion and concern," Gartner analyst Charles Abrams said in a statement. "Now that both efforts are under the auspices of OASIS...end-user needs should be better served."