Any comments on the following statement are appreciated. Q: Why are directories a good foundation for e-commerce Web applications? A: Directory services provide an optimal way of naming, describing and finding information and resources while managing the relationship between the resources. Typically, directory services software stores and manages access to detailed information about a company's IT assets, including people and business processes and resources - for internal use. But analysts believe that directory services software is also the best way to store this type of information for expanding e-business or e-commerce purposes. Since directory services software offers high levels of security, location independence, granular access and easy replication, and combined with the advantages of XML, it can become a powerful enabler of e-commerce and e-business. Directory services software is a mature, time-tested technology that's been in use in client/server environments for several years. So, many customers already have directories that can be extended to manage applications over extranets. All the leading directory service vendors - including Novell, IBM and Microsoft - are working on solutions that extend directories to e-business.
