Anyone with the slightest interest in e-Commerce has by now heard of Extensible Markup Language (XML). It was designed as a protocol for use in tagging the contents of electronic documents and permitting other computer systems to read and utilize them. In simple terms, XML allows a computer to identify a document sent over the Internet (say, a purchase order or a bid), effectively facilitating the exchange of data between buyer and seller without having to rely on faxes or phone calls. By keeping transactions limited to the Internet XML stands to save its users a great deal of time and money. Additionally, as XML is a text-based language, its tags are readable by both computers and humans, thereby permitting users to create their own tags, and define data on their own terms. Indeed, this very flexibility, without established standards, has worked against a wider adoption of XML.

As there are so many XML formats, trading partners require translation maps to read each other's documents. This, of itself, would not be too much of an obstacle if business transactions were kept only between two or three companies. However, the promise of electronic commerce has always been to provide a "many-to-many" transaction framework. Without established standards to serve as guidelines in the development of users' XML, translating a multitude of differing formats becomes more trouble than it is worth. As a result of this confusion, companies have been hesitant to jump on the XML bandwagon and are waiting for a protocol infrastructure to be introduced.

In an effort to establish standards for the use of XML, over 3,000 IT professionals from 75 industry giants and 30 countries convened in a joint 18-month effort called Electronic Business Extensible Markup Language (ebXML). Hosted by United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) and Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS), this meeting of tech minds is reviewing the current XML offerings, and plans to ratify a set of standards at its completion. The initiative seeks to establish a protocol for components of B2B -- Transport Routing, Trading Partner Agreements, Security, Document Construction, Naming Conventions and Business Process Integration.

Among the companies involved in contributing draft specifications are International Business Machines (IBM), Sun Microsystems and Microsoft. The Initiative has already decided on incorporating Microsoft's contribution to transport sequence technology -- Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), which will streamline the process of messaging between businesses. It is the hope of the Initiative that companies of all sizes, regardless of industry, will be able to use the resulting protocol. In addition, standardization promises to open the doors of B2B e-commerce to companies in less developed nations. The finalization of the ebXML specification sets has been slated for May of this year.

The key to implementation of the approved standards, when they are finalized, will be their modularity. This would provide businesses with the flexibility of developing XML software by using either individual parts of the specification sets, or by adopting them in combination. The ultimate benefit of XML is to allow the automation of business processes that are currently completed by time-consuming manual means. Ideally, a universally accepted XML protocol would allow its users' to conduct these business processes like smoothly running machines, encouraging shorter business cycles and greater operating efficiencies.

Those who are interested in obtaining more information about the ebXML specifications can visit their web site at: http://www.ebxml.org/

Sources: B2B E-Commerce to Benefit from International Efforts toward Standardization
Mark S. Merkow
EC-Outlook, April 6, 2001
http://ecommerce.internet.com/outlook/article/0,1467,7761_736091,00.html

Pumped Up: Business reaches for the Promise of XML
Peter Lucas
Electronic Commerce World, April 2001
http://www.ecomworld.com/search/author/article.cfm?ContentId=803

Real B2B- Is EDI Enough?
Demir Barlas
Line 56, April 4, 2001
http://www.line56.com/articles/print/default.asp?NewsID=2335

ebXML Web site
http://www.ebxml.org/