Chapter 16. Profiting From Your Web Services
IN THIS CHAPTER
After you have identified a need, designed and constructed a Web Service solution, and found a group of people interested in using that solution, how do you make any money from it? Because Web Services are fairly new, no one has yet made their fortune through them. This chapter looks at a few of the revenue models that are being experimented with or examined. It is not meant only for hobbyists who are creating something of value for the outside world. Independent software vendors (ISVs), people with big ideas, and the curious also will benefit from a quick read of this chapter.
Trying to make money via advertising revenue simply will not work with many Web Services. Exceptions are Web pages that provide a user interface for the Web Service. Such pages can inject banner ads that do not interfere with the operation of the application. However, most Web Services are all about machine-to-machine communication. Machines do not buy things. So, how do you profit financially from a Web Service? You can do this in several ways:
Create deployable Web Services that fill a specific need in your line of business. Sell the package to be hosted on your client's own hardware.
Charge your users based on use or the right to use.
Reduce development costs of doing business by using a Web Service created by someone else.
Something else…
In this chapter, we will look at existing resources that you may want to tap into and expose as Web Services. We will then look at how these might help increase your company's profitability. We will close out the chapter by explaining some of the basic things you will need to do to let people know that your Web Service exists.