Rating: 
Summary: Eric Marks, Web Services Author, Says Two Thumbs Up!!!!
Review: Anne Thomas Manes' book is one of the best Web Services books I've read that balances an easy-to-read style with a thorough and complete treatment of Web Services. Perhaps a bit too technical for many executives, this book is a great companion book that delivers the details of Web Services. Well done!!
Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars from the author of _XML:A Manager's Guide_
Review: As an author of a book in the same series, I hope that I have a good grasp of what managers need to know about software. In this book, Anne has really hit the nail on the head for Web Services. She spends very little time on the internal workings of the technology and focuses instead on discussing its advantages for integrating enterprise applications.Anne does a thorough job of covering all the different Web services components, taking pains to distinguish between hype an reality. For each component, she clearly describes how it impacts the development of integrated systems and its contribution to the advantages Web services have over previous generations of technology. She has a very clear writing style and the organization of the book accommodates readers that want to pick and choose their topics of interest. The best part of this book is its coverage of products. While the pace of software product cycles in the Web services space makes it inherently difficult to make product recommendations, Anne does an outstanding job of providing a framework that readers can use. She also presents probably the best discussion of J2EE versus .NET that I've ever seen.
Rating: 
Summary: A must to read for any EAI manager
Review: Have you ever wished there be one book that you can read while in an Airport waiting on a plane to catch. If you answered "yes", then this one is for you. The best part is that you can catch up with Web-services and understand the impact and excellent paradigm it presents you for your EAI needs. The technology in this field is truly bleeding edge and if you find yourself reading a little out-of-date material, you may know know why. Also, the one point this book missed to cover is the other side of the coin which is the web-services security. On the defence of the author I can only say this is probably due the fact there is still no standard security when it comes to web-services and it might be the end of the year before we have ONE that is highly adopted and accepted.
Rating:
Summary: An On Demand Integration Primer
Review: I am so glad that this is the first book that I chose to read on Web Services. In our ever-changing world of IT, new technology and new terms pass by at dizzying speeds. We latch onto some and let others go in our attempt to stay current and relevant. The area of integration will be foundational for the new business models of the 21st century and Web Services is at the starting blocks to making it happen. As a technologist for one of the main players in IT Consulting & Services, I was looking for an unbiased (non company-oriented) and comprehensive view of the components, applications and issues surrounding Web Services. I found it in this book. Like one of the other reviewers, this was one of the most enjoyable business technology books that I have read and it exceeded my expectations. I also agree with the comment that this book should not be limited to managers. Even those who work deep in the details need to have a good understanding of the big picture from a business viewpoint to create the kind of value required. My thanks to Addison-Wesley and Anne Thomas Manes.
Rating:
Summary: An On Demand Integration Primer
Review: I am so glad that this is the first book that I chose to read on Web Services. In our ever-changing world of IT, new technology and new terms pass by at dizzying speeds. We latch onto some and let others go in our attempt to stay current and relevant. The area of integration will be foundational for the new business models of the 21st century and Web Services is at the starting blocks to making it happen. As a technologist for one of the main players in IT Consulting & Services, I was looking for an unbiased (non company-oriented) and comprehensive view of the components, applications and issues surrounding Web Services. I found it in this book. Like one of the other reviewers, this was one of the most enjoyable business technology books that I have read and it exceeded my expectations. I also agree with the comment that this book should not be limited to managers. Even those who work deep in the details need to have a good understanding of the big picture from a business viewpoint to create the kind of value required. My thanks to Addison-Wesley and Anne Thomas Manes.
Rating: 
Summary: Biased book
Review: I have been involved into web services technology for a while. When I picked this book...expected an unbiased high-level outlook on Web services. But it does not help at all...the author is more biased to define all of the pieces of web services technology. With that said, this was a difficult book to read because the writing style is very abrupt, does not flow, and reads like an product brochure trying to impress some vendor and confuse others. I've read more high-level technical books that were easier to understand because they explain their subjects in more natural prose.
Rating:
Summary: Biased book
Review: I have been involved into web services technology for a while. When I picked this book...expected an unbiased high-level outlook on Web services. But it does not help at all...the author is more biased to define all of the pieces of web services technology. With that said, this was a difficult book to read because the writing style is very abrupt, does not flow, and reads like an product brochure trying to impress some vendor and confuse others. I've read more high-level technical books that were easier to understand because they explain their subjects in more natural prose.
Rating:
Summary: Managers AND programmers should consider this
Review: The title is too restrictive! Ostensibly, the book is for managers and not engineers. There is not a stitch of source code in the book. The author does not assume that you know how to write code, but that you know how businesses use software. My impression is that the book is too useful to be restricted to managers. Programmers can also benefit, if they are about to embark on design and coding of a Web Service, and they have never done so before. Try starting here, as the first step in the design. Manes gives an excellent summary of the field, with what I consider realistic assessments of its prospects. Part of the book's appeal is the vendor independence. Yes, you can go to the websites of IBM, Microsoft, BEA Systems and others, and find the latest status of their WS offerings and white papers on their strategic takes. And you probably should do that. But getting an independent comparison of their efforts is futile from their own papers. I especially agree with her assertion that the dynamic assembly of software services is at least 10 years away. This is like in the 80s, when 4th and 5th Generation Languages were touted as just around the corner. When they arrived, you could instruct your computer in new tasks, without having to program! Well, that never happened. The complexity of business and research applications precluded it. Likewise with Web Services. Manes warns the reader not to be beguiled by such claims, but to focus on immediate do-ables.
Rating:
Summary: Lucid, comprehensive book close to the software market
Review: This book is incredibly clear and dense at the same time. Anne Manes accomplishes to show in a vendor neutral way an entire market of products in an emerging industry. I am thoroughly impressed.
This book is not for the faint of heart. It does not contain source code, but still requires a lot of technical understanding from the reader. An excellent book also for developers.
Rating: 
Summary: Heavily biased
Review: This book overpromotes certain vendor web services offerings. This is more than likely caused by the authors day job as an industry analyst where they get paid to write nice things about vendors who offer suboptimal solutions. I would encourage managers wanting to learn about web services to purchase a book targeted towards developers and only read the first several chapters. Developing Web Services and Java Web Services Architecture are two good books that fill this need.
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