Chapter 6. Business Requirements for ebXML

The ebXML initiative set for itself a series of objectives in business terms that establish baselines for the performance of ebXML (the product), and in effect define its standards for success. At its third meeting in May 2000, the initiative approved Electronic Business XML (ebXML) Requirements Specification Version 1.0 as its first completed document.[1] This chapter describes ebXML's requirements and discusses its relationships with other XML business frameworks.

The requirements document had as its official purpose to provide functional specifications for the design of the technical architecture, but the importance of the ebXML requirements extends beyond the guidelines for the people writing the ebXML specifications. First, the requirements must reflect the needs of conducting business in the 21st century. The important decisions on whether to use ebXML will rest with the top executives of companies, and the requirements provide benchmarks for executives to judge the relevance of ebXML to their operations.

Second, the requirements offer designers and developers of e-business systems a set of real-world guidelines for their work. The ebXML technical documents provide specific targets for the performance of e-business services and, in some cases, instructions for the physical content details exchanged in messages. However, the companies developing e-business solutions or the end- user companies themselves will actually build the systems that create these services and exchange the messages. They will find the overall ebXML requirements to be a helpful reality check during the course of doing their work.