BT adds Java web services deal

BT has confirmed that its web services strategy will be based both on Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) and Microsoft's .Net standard.

The telco announced in September that it would offer a managed services deployment environment from January for firms interested in evaluating web services based on either standard, and agreed a deal with Microsoft.

And now BT, which wants to be considered a 'trusted broker' for web services, has agreed terms with BEA, which uses J2EE for its WebLogic product.

The deal allows BT to source new web service applications from BEA and its partners for its planned library of re-usuable components for web services.

Sally Davis, president of applications management and hosting at BT Ignite, said: "Working with both BEA and Microsoft brings BT a step closer to achieving our objective to be a trusted broker for web services."

But BT still faces a battle to prove that it is the best organisation for enterprises considering web services to work with.

Some experts argue the current market requires the skills of independent software vendors far more than service providers, and that BT's offer to test external web services may be too far ahead of where enterprises are with their web services deployment programmes.