I want to know if there is an academic publication (e.g. a thesis or
dissertation, or other academic publication) that shows that the use
of standards (like J2EE, JSR 168, SOAP, etc) in software leads to
lower cost, better returns on investment, and reduced risk. Lower cost
may be the result of reduced implementation and integration efforts.
Better ROI may be the result of better connectivity to suppliers and
customers. And reduced risk may be the result of less dependability on
proprietary skills.

charlien1-ga,

I think the text that comes closest to hitting the nail on the head is this one:


http://books.google.com/books?id=bki0f2Cc4jsC
Perspectives on Web Services: Applying Soap, Wsdl and UDDI to Real-World Projects
By Stefan Peuser, Olaf Zimmermann, Mark R Tomlinson


The book has an extensive discussion of these (and other) web
services, as well as detailed feedback on the J2EE platform (the
authors are leading J2EE experts).

Chapter 1 of the book is called "The Business Perspective", and
discusses the features that make these platforms desirable from a
bottom-line perspective.

There is some discussion of ROI, although the authors caution that
quantifying specific ROI data is quite tricky in a complex business
environment.


===============


I searched a number of electronic theses repositories as well.  There
is certainly no shortage of materials on web standards, but I did not
come across anything that explicitly addressed the business case for
these.

However, I did come across an online video presentation that may be of
interest to you, as it explicitly discussess ROI:


http://www.theserverside.com/talks/library.tss
Rick Saletta - J2EE Group Marketing Manager, Sun Microsystems 
Topic: The Benefits of J2EE 



There appears to be a scarcity of resources on this specific topic.  I
trust the information provided above will fully meet your needs.

However, please don't rate this answer until you are fully satisified
with the response.  If there is anything else I can do for you, don't
hesitate to let me know.  Just post a Request for Clarification, and
I'm at your service.

Cheers,

pafalafa-ga


search strategy -- Searched Google, Google Scholar, Windows Search
Live Academic, and numerous other academic and thesis databases for [
j2ee jsr soap roi ]