Computer Industry Giants Form Consortium

Microsoft Corp. and IBM Corp. said they formed a consortium to ensure that new Internet services can work together.

The group, called the Web Services Interoperability Organization, includes Intel Corp., Oracle Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and BEA Systems Inc., said Dan’l Lewin, vice president of .Net business development for Microsoft.

Microsoft and IBM have combined efforts on standards that will foster development of Web services that share information between normally incompatible programs, computers and Web sites. The consortium will ensure that the firms implement the standards correctly, allowing all companies’ products to work with one another.

Otherwise, Lewin said, customers may delay building Web services, which software and hardware makers such as Microsoft, IBM, Oracle and Intel are counting on to fuel demand for their products.