Requirements for Integrated Solutions XML: Platform for Business Applications

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Requirements for Integrated SolutionsXML
Platform for Business Applications

• AFEI
• Phoenix, AZ
• September 12, 2001
• Dale Waldt
• Program Development, OASIS
• Director, aXtive Minds

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• The brunt of XML's Web impact will be on
  restructuring the economics of Web-based
  transactions
• Rita Knox, Gartner Group

3

• Zero Latency is the killer app for XML
• Ray Schulte, Gartner Group

4

• No Microsoft software product will remain
  untouched by XML
• Peter PlamondonMgr. Developer Relations,
  Microsoft

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eXtensible Markup Language (XML)

• A method for structuring portable data
• Designed for information exchange on networked
  systems
• Allows the same content to be used in different
  ways
• XML is international (via Unicode)
• Provides context on how to use data
• Enables new Web applications
• True subset of SGML

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XML Goals

• Enable internationalized media-independent
  electronic publishing
• Allow industries to define platform-independent
  protocols for the exchange of data, especially
  the data of electronic commerce
• Deliver information to user agents in a form that
  allows automatic processing after receipt

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XML Goals (continued)

• Make it easier to develop software to handle
  specialized information distributed over the Web
• Make it easy for people to process data using
  inexpensive software
• Allow people to display information the way they
  want it, under style sheet control
• Make it easier to provide metadata -- data about
  information -- that will help people find
  information and help information producers and
  consumers find each other

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XML looks like HTML, but isn't

• Both Use
• tags (words bracketed by 'lt' and 'gt')
• attributes (of the form name"value")
• HTML specifies
• what each tag attribute means
• how the text between them will look in a browser
• XML uses the tags only to
• delimit pieces of data
• leaves the interpretation of the data completely
  to the application that reads it
• If you see "ltpgt" in an XML file, don't assume it
  is a paragraph. Depending on the context, it may
  be a price, a parameter, a person

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XML is new, but not that new

• Development started in 1996
• Became a W3C standard in February 1998
• Before XML there was SGML
• developed in the early '80s
• An ISO standard since 1986
• HTML
• Development started in 1990.
• XML simply uses
• the best parts of SGML
• the experience with HTML
• No less powerful than SGML, but vastly more
  regular and simpler to use

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And finally, XML is

• license-free
• platform-independent
• well-supported

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Simple Example of XML Usage

• e.g., Describe a customer

ltcustomer-details id"AcPharm39156"gt ltnamegtAcme
Pharmaceuticals Co.lt/namegt ltaddress
country"US"gt ltstreetgt7301 Smokey Roadlt/streetgt
ltcitygtSmallvillelt/citygt ltstategtIndianalt/stategt
ltpostalgt94571lt/postalgt lt/addressgt
lt/customer-detailsgt
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XML Standards Cooperative, not Competitive

• XML (eXtensible Markup Language)
• XLink
• XPointer Xfragments
• XML Schema
• XML Query
• DOM (Document Object Model)
• XML Namespaces
• RDF (Resource Description Framework)

• CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
• XSL (XML Style Sheet Language)
• XSLT (XML Style Sheet Language, Transformation)
• XInclude (XML Inclusions)
• XML Information Set
• XML Fragment Interchange
• And more to come

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A Basic XML Processing Model
XML/XSLT Processor
XML Data
Rendering Engine or Browser
XSL-FO Format Spec
XML DTD / Schema
XTM Topic Map
XSLT Style Sheet Transformation
Public DTDs / Schemas
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Uses of XML

• Specify data designed to solve specific problems
• Database schemas
• Object interfaces
• Workflow and forms routing
• Transactions
• Multimedia
• Application interoperability

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XML System Architecture
VE R T I C A L
VE R T I C A L
VE R T I C A L
VE R T I C A L
VE R T I C A L
VE R T I C A L
PRIORITY
2
HORIZONTAL WEB SERVICES
PROCESS/CORE COMPONENTS
MESSAGING
FOUNDATION (e.g., XML)
CORE (e.g., IETF)
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Industry-Standard Specifications for
Interoperability

• Often described as VOCABULARIES
• Members of industry collaborate on core
  components and business process models
• Countless initiatives currently underway

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Current XML Initiatives (A-D only see XML.ORG
for a complete list)

• Accounting
• Advertising
• Architecture and Construction
• Astronomy and Space
• Automotive
• Aviation and Aerospace
• Banking
• Biblical Scholarship
• Bibliographies
• Business Strategy/Business Intelligence
• Catalogs

• Communication
• Communications Internet
• Communications Wireless
• Content Management
• Content Syndication
• Customer Relationship Management
• Customs
• Data Mining
• Defense Aerospace
• Directory Services
• etc.

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XML Common Business Processes

• Financial Reporting Transactions (FpML, XBRL,
  swiftML, ebXML, et al)
• Human Resources (HR-XML)
• Information (NewsML, LegalXML, et al)
• Purchasing Management (NAPM-USA)
• Insurance (ACORD)
• Contracts Management (CommonAccord)
• Advertising and Media (adXML)
• Electronic Commerce (CBL, ebXML, et al)
• Energy Trading and Consumption (ESTG)
• Knowledge on the Web (KnoW)
• Travel (OTA)
• Customer Profiling (CPExchange)
• Information Content Exchange (ICE)
• Rights Information (PRISM)
• Etc.

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Some Financial Applications of XML

• FpML do
• XBRL view
• MDDL view
• ISO 15022 view, do
• swiftML view, do
• FIXML do
• IRML view
• RIXML view
• FinXML do
• NewsML view
• MarketsML view, do
• ebXML do

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What Could Go Wrong?

• Too many initiatives
• Too few experts
• Incompatible industry vocabularies
• Ill-conceived vocabularies
• Vendor-proprietary implementations or extensions

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Common Types of XML Applications

• Publishing Repository
• Web Content Delivery
• Vertical Industry Interchange
• Application Configuration
• E-Commerce Systems
• Software Interoperability / Integration

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Sample 1 XML Publishing Process
Print Transform
XML Editing Update
Data Capture
XML Data Management
XML Product Staging
Web Transform
Data Creation
XML Repository
Interchange Transform
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Sample 2 Software Configuration
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Software Configuration
lt?xml version'1.0'?gt ltCHOOSECATEGORY
DATE'7/3/01 14007 PM'gt ltCATEGORY NAME'PRODUCT
CATEGORIES'gt ltURLgtlt/URLgt lt/CATEGORYgt ltCATEGORY
NAME"Apparel and Accessories"gt ltCATEGORY
NAME"General"gt ltURLgthttp//www.echoclick.com/rati
ngs/Apparel_and_Accessories/General.htmllt/URLgt lt/C
ATEGORYgt ltCATEGORY NAME"Children's"gt ltCATEGORY
NAME"Baby"gt ltURLgthttp//www.echoclick.com/ratings
/Apparel_and_Accessories/Children's/Baby.htmllt/URL
gt lt/CATEGORYgt ltCATEGORY NAME"Kids and
Teens"gt ltURLgthttp//www.echoclick.com/ratings/Appa
rel_and_Accessories/Children's/Kids_and_Teens.html
lt/URLgt lt/CATEGORYgt lt/CATEGORYgt ltCATEGORY
NAME"Automobiles"gt ltCATEGORY NAME"General"gt ltURL
gthttp//www.echoclick.com/ratings/Automobiles/Gene
ral.htmllt/URLgt lt/CATEGORYgt ltCATEGORY
NAME"New"gt ltCATEGORY NAME"Cars"gt
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Sample 3 e-Business

• EDI Penetration

Fortune 1000
SMEs
95
2
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Electronic business today

• Limited to large organizations
• Expensive technology with high cost-of-entry
• Industry-specific XML initiatives underway...
• But little consensus on common requirements
• Results incompatibility, reinvention, segregated
  pockets of communication

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Enter ebXML

• Global project to standardize the exchange of
  electronic business data
• Objective facilitate global trade by developing
  an infrastructure for electronic business based
  on public, proven XML standards
• Results compatibility, efficiency, true
  communication
• Sponsored by OASIS and the United Nations/CEFACT
• Supported by hundreds of industry consortia,
  standards bodies and companies from around the
  world

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Electronic Business Infrastructure
VE R T I C A L
VE R T I C A L
VE R T I C A L
VE R T I C A L
VE R T I C A L
VE R T I C A L
HORIZONTAL WEB SERVICES
PROCESS/CORE COMPONENTS
MESSAGING
FOUNDATION (e.g., XML)
CORE (e.g., IETF)
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Joint Development of ebXML

• OASIS
• Independent, not-for-profit
• Industry-standard specifications for
  interoperability
• Technical work on Conformance, CIQ, Security
  Services, Reg/Rep
• Home of XML.ORG and The XML Cover Pages
• 250 members platform vendors new economy
  vertical industries individuals

• UN/CEFACT
• United Nations Centre for Facilitation of
  procedures and practices for Administration,
  Commerce and Transport
• Sets worldwide policy and technical development
  in trade facilitation and electronic business
• Developed international EDI standard, UN/EDIFACT
• One of only four international bodies able to set
  de jure standards

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Requirements

• Developed for final solution, not just framework
• Example areas addressed
• Conducting business electronically
• Globalization
• Useability/Interoperability
• Security, legal, digital signatures

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ebXML Goals

• Lower the cost and complexity of electronic
  business
• Facilitate global trade
• Put SMEs and developing nations in the picture
• Complement and extend current EC/EDI investment
• Expand electronic business to new and existing
  trading partners
• Converge current and emerging XML efforts

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ebXML Organization
Executive Committee
2 OASIS Members
2 UN/CEFACT Members
Requirements
BusinessProcess
TechnicalArchitecture
TradingPartner
CoreComponents
Registry/Repository
QualityReview
Proof ofConcept
Transport, Routing Packaging
Marketing, Awareness Education
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Ongoing Maintenance of ebXML

• Ratified in Vienna, Austria in May 2001
• UN-CEFACT Technical Committee created to support
  and maintain ebXML application on an ongoing
  basis.
• First meeting scheduled for July 2001
• to join or get more information go to
• www.ebxml-open.org

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OASIS Interoperability Standards
The international presence of OASIS, especially
the expertise and resources that its members
bring, is very significant and accelerates global
development efforts such as ebXML Ray Walker,
United Nations/CEFACT
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OASIS Interoperability Standards
Developers of XML vocabularies and schemas look
to OASIS as a central community resource that is
open and objective. Lon Pilot HR-XML.ORG
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OASIS Overview

• OASIS is a member consortium dedicated to
  building systems interoperability specifications
• We focus on industry applications of structured
  information standards, such as SGML, XML and CGM.
  
• Members of OASIS are providers, users and
  specialists of standards-based technologies and
  include organizations, individuals and industry
  groups.
• International, Not-for-profit, Open, Independent
• Successful through industry-wide collaboration

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OASIS Value

• Comprehension of and Support for the Standards
  Process
• OASIS experts charter the course to rapid
  development and adoption
• Democratic Process including an Elected Board of
  Directors and comprehensive Intellectual
  Property and Anti-Trust Policies
• Work is guaranteed to be representative of the
  industry as a whole, not any one vendors view
• Global Visibility and Critical Partnerships
• OASIS draws participation from around the world
  and aggressively promotes the work to ensure
  viability and adoption

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For More Information

• Patrick GannonCEO, OASIS1 978 667
  5115partick.gannon_at_oasis-open.orghttp//www.oasi
  s-open.org
• Dale Waldt
• Program Development, OASIS
• Director, aXtive Minds
• 1 716 703 8440
• dale.waldt_at_oasis-open.org