New York, NY, June 26, 2002 - Web Services Journal (www.sys-con.com/webservices), the world's first and leading Web services magazine, has announced the results of its first annual Readers' Choice Awards. Winners and finalists were honored on Tuesday, June 25, at an awards ceremony at SYS-CON Media's Web Services Edge 2002 East - International Web Services Conference & Expo (June 24-27) in New York City.

"The WSJ Readers' Choice Awards program will establish itself as the most respected industry competition of its kind," said Fuat Kircaali, the publisher of Web Services Journal and the founder and CEO of SYS-CON Media. "WSJ's sister publication, Java Developer's Journal, has been presenting its popular Readers' Choice Awards for the past six years in what has become known as the "Oscars of the Software Industry." The Web Services Journal Readers' Choice Awards will fill an equally important gap in the software industry."

The number of Web Services Journal readers who cast their votes in this first year reached an impressive 11,281.

"We were thrilled with the interest from our readers, which was evident in the number of votes we received," said Sean Rhody, editor-in-chief of WSJ. "In its first year, a significant number of Web services products were nominated, and the participation in the voting process was vigorous throughout the six-month period. This is another indication of the critical importance and future of Web services."

Web Services Journal Readers' Choice Awards recipients are selected through reader-submitted nominations, followed by online voting. An independent research firm managed the voting process. This year's award-winning companies and products will be announced in WSJ's August issue.

2002 Annual Web Services Journal Readers' Choice Award Winners and Finalists:

Best Application Server for Web Services

Winner: BEA WebLogic Server 6.1 (BEA Systems)
Finalist - 1st Runner Up: IBM WebSphere Application Server 4.1 (IBM)
Finalist - 2nd Runner Up: Oracle9i Application Server (Oracle)

Best Web Services Automation Tool

Winner: BEA WebLogic Server 6.1 (BEA Systems)
Finalist - 1st Runner Up: IBM WebSphere Studio (IBM)
Finalist - 2nd Runner Up: Oracle9i Application Server (Oracle)

Best Web Services Book

Winner: Java Web Services (O'Reilly & Associates)
Finalist - 1st Runner Up: Programming Web Services with SOAP (O'Reilly & Associates)
Finalist - 2nd Runner Up: Building Web Services with Java (SAMS Publishing)

Best Web Services Class Library

Winner: CLX: Component Library for Cross-Platform (Borland)
Finalist - 1st Runner Up: Web Services Invocation Framework (IBM)
Finalist - 2nd Runner Up: SilverStream eXtend Director 3.0 (SilverStream Software)

Best Web Services Foundation Platform

Winner: SonicXQ 1.0 (Sonic Software)
Finalist - 1st Runner Up: IBM WebSphere Application Server 4.1 (IBM)
Finalist - 2nd Runner Up: BEA WebLogic Server 6.1 (BEA Systems)

Best Framework for Web Services

Winner: IBM WebSphere (IBM)
Finalist - 1st Runner Up: BEA WebLogic Server 6.1 (BEA Systems)
Finalist - 2nd Runner Up: Oracle9i JDeveloper (Oracle)

Best Web Services IDE

Winner: VisualAge for Java - WebSphere Studio Application Developer (IBM)
Finalist - 1st Runner Up: Oracle9i JDeveloper (Oracle)
Finalist - 2nd Runner Up: Delphi 6 (Borland)

Best Integrated Services Environment

Winner: Delphi 6 (Borland)
Finalist - 1st Runner Up: IBM WebSphere Studio (IBM)
Finalist - 2nd Runner Up: XML Spy Suite 4.2 (Altova)

Best Web Services Integration Tool

Winner: Oracle9i Application Server (Oracle)
Finalist - 1st Runner Up: BEA WebLogic Integration (BEA Systems)
Finalist - 2nd Runner Up: IBM MQ Series Integrator (IBM)

Best Web Services Legacy Adapter

Winner: WebLogic Integration (BEA Systems)
Finalist - 1st Runner Up: CICS Gateway (IBM)
Finalist - 2nd Runner Up: Oracle9i Application Server (Oracle)

Best Mass Market Web Service

Winner: IBM UDDI Business Registry (IBM)
Finalist - 1st Runner Up: dataLive (LongReach Software)
Finalist - 2nd Runner Up: N-central IT Management Solution (N-able Technologies)

Best Web Services Middleware

Winner: SonicXQ 1.0 (Sonic Software)
Finalist - 1st Runner Up: IBM WebSphere (IBM)
Finalist - 2nd Runner Up: BEA WebLogic Server 6.1 (BEA Systems)

Best Web Services Platform

Winner: BEA WebLogic Server 6.1 (BEA Systems)
Finalist - 1st Runner Up: IBM WebSphere Application Server 4.1 (IBM)
Finalist - 2nd Runner Up: Oracle9iAS and Oracle9i JDeveloper (Oracle)

Best Web Service Site

Winner: IBM developerWorks (IBM)
Finalist - 1st Runner Up: XMethods (XMethods)
Finalist - 2nd Runner Up: IBM Web Services Technology Newsletter (IBM)

Best Web Services Testing Tool

Winner: Oracle9i JDeveloper (Oracle)
Finalist - 1st Runner Up: IBM alphaWorks Web Services Testing Area (IBM)
Finalist - 2nd Runner Up: XML Spy Suite 4.2 (Altova)

Best Web Services Training Tool or Program

Winner: XML Spy Suite 4.2 (Altova)
Finalist - 1st Runner Up: IBM Web Services Toolkit (IBM)
Finalist - 2nd Runner Up: RADical Web Services for e-Business (Borland)

Best Web Services Utility

Winner: Oracle9i JDeveloper (Oracle)
Finalist - 1st Runner Up: IBM Web Services Toolkit (IBM)
Finalist - 2nd Runner Up: XML Spy Suite 4.2 (Altova)

About SYS-CON Media

SYS-CON Media, twice named the fastest growing, privately held publishing company in America by Inc 500, is the world's leading publisher exclusively serving i-technology markets. SYS-CON publications include: Wireless Business & Technology (www.WBT2.com), Java Developer's Journal (www.JavaDevelopersJournal.com), XML-Journal (www.XML-Journal.com), Web Services Journal (www.WSJ2.com), ColdFusion Developer's Journal (www.ColdFusionJournal.com), PowerBuilder Developer's Journal (www.PowerBuilderJournal.com), WebSphere Developer's Journal (www.WebSphereDevelopersJournal.com), BEA WebLogic Developer's Journal (www.WeblogicDevelopersJournal.com), .NET Developer's Journal (www.sys-con.com/dotnet/)

Each month SYS-CON Media reaches over half a million i-technology professionals through its specialty journals, magazines, books, conferences, and the SYS-CON interactive portal with its 87 Web sites at www.sys-con.com.

About SYS-CON Events, Inc.

SYS-CON Events, Inc., is the world's leading producer of i-technology developer conferences and expositions. SYS-CON Events' upcoming developer conference calendar includes: Web Services Edge 2002 East - International Web Services Conference & Expo, colocated with JDJEdge 2002 East - International Java Developer Conference & Expo and XMLEdge 2002 East - International XML Conference & Expo, to take place June 24-27 at Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City; and Web Services Edge 2002 West - International Web Services Conference & Expo, colocated with JDJEdge 2002 West - International Java Developer Conference & Expo, XMLEdge 2002 West - International XML Conference & Expo, and Wireless Edge 2002 - International Wireless Business & Technology Conference & Expo, to take place September 30 - October 3 at San Jose Convention Center in California.

SYS-CON's i-technology education series includes a total of 16 cities around the world. The Web Services Edge World Tour tutorial will be presented on Thursday, June 27 in New York.

Java and Java-based marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. SYS-CON is independent of Sun Microsystems, Inc. XMLEdge2001 International XML Conference & Expo is not related to XMLEdge by MobileQ, a platform for a complete wireless Internet infrastructure. All other company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.