Mike,

>>Nope.. for business it has to be 100% IMO.
>
>Oh yes, the perfect business in the perfect econmy. I'm not saying that I think we shoudl shoot ourselves in the feet, but, well, lets look at it this way: I sell software to thousands of people around the country, there are a bunch of large retail chains, but mostly, its an awful lot of 1 store, or 2 store shops selling minnows out in the sticks.
>
>If I were to tell them that for a minimal subscription price, they could instantly get a Timecard solution for their 15 employees and we wouldn't need to spend any time installing it, maintaining it, or all that 1990's crap (*g*), I think they would go for it. If the web was down for a day, hey, they spend a minute or two writing it down on paper and fixing it tomarrow.

I understand. I think though that the point we're not addressing is that in this case you control the web service. In that case you and I are in total agreement. I will most certainly use web services for my clients. I will not, however, subject my clients to a 3rd party's web service as I cannot assure my clients of the stability of that 3rd party's web service. Different issues I'd think..

>
>I can also go to this company (who spends more money on tabloids than IT) and say, via a the web, you can send some inventory information to a web service and get some pretty slick promotion signs back (through a browser, or PDF, ect) instantly, I think they would go at that too.

No argument at all. Again, you control the web service. Ask those folks to pay you but that you cannot guarantee that the web service they will be relying on will be there next week and see how fast they sign up. <g>

>
>Its these sort of services in these sort of situations that allow the Web service consumers to round out their businesses in ways you haven't started to piece together. In my predictions anyways.

No problem here as long as you understand what you just said. If my customer choose to implement web services that's great. But, since they chose it's their responsibility, not moine. I wish them well and I'll help them. I just will not sell my product using a 3rd party's web services for the reasons stated above.

That's all really.

>
>Would I suggest that a Fortune 100 company put its payroll system on a server half way accross the world in my basement? Hell no. I am, however, thinking about the possibilities here.

Right.. For example if that same company hired you to create a web service that they took responsibility for internally,, That's a different matter altogether.

>
>>No business is going to put itself knowingly at risk Mike...
>
>Huh? MS does that every day *g*

Ok, you got me there but it still makes my point. The risks Microsoft takes are calculated and I'm asserting that after I calculate the risk of subjecting my clients to a 3rd party web service the riskd do not outweigh the benefits. I'm more than happy to take the risk as long as I have control over the service though...

>
>Hey, like I said, its different, and we'll have to think differnt. And with that, are we gonna have to agree to disagree?

No.. You're just plain wrong..










< BG >

Just kidding.. Of course. If we need to do that we sure can. Candidly I don't think we're all that far apart.