With regards to the Web Service–REST discussion, Microsoft’s  view is that WS* is a preferred approach for B2B enterprise data and is standards-based with widespread availability of tools and developer expertise already in place.  Additionally, WS* has built-in security support, whereas REST is simply a style and would rely on application developers to manage security and error handling themselves.

Taking a pragmatic view, WS* is already recognized and SDOs will not give WS* a second thought, whereas REST could well force a pause and there’s a risk that it gets sent back to the group for revision.

There are a number of organizations already implementing Web Services for ADE, the question really is how many support, or plan to, support REST for ADE?

With regards to device convergence, this is something Microsoft can certainly foresee and in the case of SEP certainly something we support using REST for – so it’s not about orthodoxy, but rather application.  For ADE, the problem that the group is trying to solve right now, for the PUC’s and others, is about the enterprise and B2B interaction.  REST for devices can certainly come in a later version or device extension if/when device convergence comes about and utilities move to support integrating enterprise data with aftermarket devices (which may not be a given for some utilities), but the group has a known requirement today that needs to be addressed with a robust, standards-based solution, sooner rather than later.

From a process standpoint, it’s important not to take ADE and SEP and inadvertently conflated the two – the merits of either WS* or REST need to be weighed independently for ADE – since the business requirements/realities are quite different.