Sun not deliberately spoiling Microsoft's party

NEWS Sun Microsystems today denied claims it has spurned the new Web Services Interoperability Organisation, launched yesterday to speed the development of integrated services on the internet. Headed by Microsoft and IBM, some had speculated that Sun was not part of the movement because of its public opposition to Microsoft's wide-ranging .NET strategy for web services. Sun is the most notable absentee from the list of members, which also includes Accenture, BEA Systems, Fujitsu, HP, Intel, Oracle and SAP. Sun today refused to comment on the matter in detail. A spokesman said: "We certainly haven't declined to be involved in this." However, there is no indication when a decision either way might be made. Some reports suggested Sun had been interested, but hadn't been presented with the project in time to get involved from the launch. However, John Noakes, Microsoft's computing manager, said: "Sun have been given exactly the same information as everyone else, at exactly the same time." Noakes confirmed Sun is welcome to join at any time. He said: "We're inviting everyone to take part in this, big or small." Sun is Microsoft's biggest competitor in the Web Services space - the Sun inspired Liberty Alliance boasts a similarly impressive list of contributors, from which Microsoft is the most notable absentee. Microsoft's Noakes also answered criticisms, voiced yesterday by the Butler Group on silicon.com, that the new organisation was no more than a marketing exercise, designed to consolidate the position of the bigger players. "Nothing could be further from the truth. What you're seeing is the public announcement of a very solid, important initiative," he said. Noakes said the programme will ensure existing standards for web services, such as XML, SOAP, WSDL and UDDI, will be able to interoperate effectively. He added: "Web services is about a lot more than the basic standards. This initiative is designed to take the basic standards a stage further."