Web Services give the developer a new platform to build distributed applications. Older technologies such as DCOM, RPC etc.., have been around for some time now. The problem with these solutions, is they rely on proprietary solutions that make it difficult for cross platform interoperability. In order to send information between platforms, developers needed to go through a complex process that required them to install software on every machine that needed to share information. Enter Web Services. The beauty of web services is they use open standards and protocols like (XML,SOAP,UDDI,WSDL) to package and deliver information between systems behind the firewall or outside the firewall (Internet). Web services are a technology in its infancy which will continue to grow in functionality and power within the coming years.