Microsoft, BEA Systems Inc and Tibco Software Inc yesterday announced WS-Eventing, a specification founded on WS-Addressing, WS-Security and WS-ReliableMessaging.

WS-Eventing was described as a set of standard protocols, messaging formats and interfaces for web services to send and receive information that an event has occurred.

Missing from yesterday’s WS- line-up for the first time, though, was IBM, which has worked closely with Microsoft in authoring and fulfilling today’s WS- specifications.

The modus operandi of IBM’s WS- relationship with Microsoft has been for the companies to partner with an ISV in an area of specialization when announcing each WS-specification. On WS-Security, for example, Microsoft and IBM worked with VeriSign Inc.

This time around, though, IBM appears wedded to its MQ Series middleware, which it claimed would be more suited to large-scale use than WS-Eventing, through its use of a broker.

IBM’s director of dynamic eBusiness technology Karla Norsworthy told ComputerWire: We don’t want to introduce new technology and prohibit [customers] from solving problems… like large scalability.

Furthermore, IBM appears to be developing its own eventing answer based on the MQ Series software and broker. Norsworthy was unwilling to provide details, but said simply: We will be doing some work in this space, and have some proposals in that regard.

Other factors cited by IBM for not participating in WS-Eventing include its work to develop a standard way to manage distributed resources through the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS’s) WebServices Management Technical Committee, and special considerations imposed on eventing by grid.

Norsworthy said grid adds particular requirements.

She added, though, she is optimistic IBM’s work would converge with WS-Eventing.

BEA director of web services strategy John Keiger said industry feedback would now be taken on WS-Eventing, after which a decision would be taken on which standards body to use for ratification.

This article is based on material originally produced by ComputerWire.