Several vendors look to bolster message delivery Two new specifications related to message delivery for interoperable Web services applications were published Thursday, along with a high-level white paper produced by IBM and Microsoft.IBM, Microsoft, BEA Systems and Tibco Software jointly announced publication of the WS-ReliableMessaging specification, which provides a protocol so that messages that are unreceived or duplicates can be detected, while messages that are received can be processed in the order in which they were sent.IBM, Microsoft and BEA published the WS-Addressing specification, which provides a way to identify and exchange references to Web Service end points, the companies said in a statement. The specification further defines a set of commonly used message information headers. Those two elements of the specification will allow transport-neutral, bi-directional, synchronous and asynchronous interactions across networks that might include end point managers, firewalls and gateways. Besides the specifications, IBM and Microsoft published the white paper, “Reliable Message Delivery in a Web Services World: A Proposed Architecture and Roadmap,” which gives examples of applications and identifies areas that need to be addressed for an advanced Web services architecture. The paper also introduces the ReliableMessaging protocol and how it fits with other Web services specifications, including WS-Policy and WS-Security. Software DevelopmentTechnology Industry