Using Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI)

Service Oriented Architecture SOA - Using Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI)

The directory shown in the above figure could be a UDDI registry. The UDDI registry is intended to eventually serve as a means of "discovering" Web Services described using WSDL . The idea is that the UDDI registry can be searched in various ways to obtain contact information and the Web Services available for various organizations. How much "discovery" will be used in the early days of Web Services is open to discussion. Nevertheless, even without the discovery portion, the UDDI registry is a way to keep up-to-date on the Web Services your organization currently uses. More on Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (new window). An alternative to UDDI is the ebXML Registry (new window).

Source: http://www.service-architecture.com/web-services/articles/web_services_explained.html