Web Services and Web 2.0: Married or Fiancés?

Services, and not just Web services, provide the basis to release a flexible back-end where componentized business processes can easily be assembled, re-assembled, and tailored to the different needs. Similarly, Web 2.0, Ajax, and other proprietary client-side technologies are imposing a new way to conceive Web applications, which are much more interactive, responsive, and user-oriented. Mash-ups are imposing a simple, user-centered way to integrate disparate sources of information and thus different services according to user preferences and deployment contexts.