ServEx from XPS is a development and runtime system for the creation and execution of standard-compliant web services. ServEx supports the web services standards WSDL (Web Services Description Language) and SOAP/XML (Simple Object Access Protocol) over http.

ServEx is implemented as Java servlet and has to be executed under the control of a Java servlet engine such as Apache Tomcat, JBoss, Bea WebLogic or IBM WebSphere Application Server. Addiontally ServEx offers the possibility to be launched locally from a Java application.

ServEx makes possible the execution of self developed Java server programs, so called Weblets. Weblet execution is originated through the transmission of a SOAP request over http to the ServEx servlet. The exchange of input and output parameters can be carried out as RPC style encoded Java data types or as a XML document. In either case the details of the underlying data exchange as SOAP document over http remain hidden from the Weblet developer.

Due to the fact that a Weblet has unlimited access to the executing Java runtime environment additional technologies like e. g. JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) for database access can easily be included in a Weblet.
ServEx will be shipped with various connectors for the optional integration of mainframe processes. Using the included ServEx application programming interface the Weblet developer can easily make use of these connectors. The following list shows the available ServEx mainframe connectors from XPS: ServEx can be configured and administered using 'SOAPOpera', a Java desktop application, which is part of the ServEx distribution. SOAPOpera can also be used for Weblet testing making the development of own test applications superflous.