As companies get serious about developing Web-services applications, IT managers are stepping up their evaluations of the technology platforms they'll use to build and deploy those apps. While Microsoft has an edge when it comes to market mindshare, the vendor's .Net server architecture apparently still has to prove that it can do the job, according to a recent survey of IT professionals conducted by InformationWeek and Peerstone Research.

Seventy-three percent of IT executives identify Microsoft as an important supplier of server platforms for deploying Web services. That's a significant majority compared with IBM, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, and suppliers of open-source software, each of which were cited by fewer than half of survey responders. Multiple responses were allowed.

But when asked if they prefer Java 2 Enterprise Edition or Microsoft .Net application servers for large deployments of Web services, 45% chose J2EE, compared with 29% who chose Microsoft .Net and 20% who favor an equal mix.

Digging deeper, 52% say security problems with Microsoft .Net represent a major obstacle to Web-services deployment, compared with 24% who cite security problems with J2EE platforms as a major problem. Fifty-two percent say the lack of mature security standards is a big obstacle to deploying Web services, while 43% describe it as a minor obstacle.