Basic Goals and Scope

The ultimate technical goal of ebXML is stated as "[providing] an XML-based open technical framework to enable XML to be utilized in a consistent and uniform manner for the exchange of electronic business data in application-to-application , application-to-human, and human-to-application environments ”thus creating a single global market ."[2]

This goal statement includes several important elements, as discussed in the following sections.

Role of XML

The ebXML specifications deal with electronic business services based on XML. While the systems built on ebXML may incorporate other technologies, be written in various programming languages, access any number of different databases, and work on a diverse set of operating systems, XML is the glue that allows these different systems to work together. A key factor in making ebXML happen is utilization of the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C's) collection of technical specifications on XML and related technologies.

Facsimile (fax) machines don't care what goes on the page sent to or from other fax machines; the fax is simply a digital representation of a visual image. With ebXML, however, the content of the message itself is vital .

While its implementation focuses on using XML as the format for message exchanges, ebXML draws on other standards and specifications as well. The requirements document identified several of the standards organizations from which it drew guidance, including the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and the Object Management Group (OMG), as well as the founding organizations of ebXML, UN/CEFACT and OASIS.

Open Technical Framework

Anyone wanting to use the ebXML specifications can utilize the documents, without fees or preconditions. None of the specifications involve proprietary systems or software. The process used to develop the specifications is also open, with anyone wanting to take part included in the development process. At no time did ebXML require membership fees or organizational endorsements to take part in the development teams .

Consistency and Uniformity

Standards provide a bedrock of consistency and uniformity that assures builders of systems that they can successfully exchange data with other systems built on the same set of standards. This idea didn't begin with ebXML, of course, but the involvement of so many standards organizations helped make it a central principle. As a result, companies with ebXML-compliant systems should be able to exchange ebXML messages, as easily as facsimile machines can exchange fax messages anywhere in the world. The ebXML sponsors also intend to submit its end product documents to become an international standard accredited by a suitable international standards body.

Electronic Business Data

Facsimile (fax) machines don't care what goes on the page sent to or from other fax machines; the fax is simply a digital representation of a visual image. With ebXML, however, the content of the message itself is vital. The e-business messages and services governed by ebXML are tied to business processes and contain core components that detail the information interchange (using a vocabulary that establishes a consensus among industries, or between trading partners ). The ebXML message format can contain any form of payload, of course, but the key difference is that, unlike with faxes, the recipient is able to deploy machine processes to automatically recognize, interpret, and utilize the content.

Application-to-Application, Application-to-Human, and Human-to-Application Environments

The specifications recognize that people and systems need to interact with each other to conduct e-business, and thus the specifications must address all of the contingencies and nuances that this entails. With existing EDI transactions, e-business messages are sent from one trading partner mailbox to another, and EDI explicitly does not address either the resulting integration with internal business systems or the need for human interactions to complete the service delivery. Unlike EDI, ebXML seeks to address the integration and human elements directly.

ebXML should enable any company of any size in any industry to interact with any other company of any size in any other industry

Creating a Single Global Market

The key word in this part of the goal statement is global, [3] which has a double meaning. First, as you might expect with any document related to the work of the United Nations, the specifications must work anywhere that can support the basic technical infrastructure, and work in any written human language. XML itself provides the ability to utilize any written language using a technique called the Unicode double-byte encoding system. Second, ebXML cuts across industry and business function boundaries. It needs to be accessible to trading partners in any kind of industry or line of business, and for all business processes. Thus, ebXML is not an accounting or procurement or logistics specification, but a technical framework that covers all of those processes and beyond.

The scope of the ebXML initiative covers all business sectors, from the largest multinational enterprise to medium-size and small companies that seek to engage in commerce with other businesses or with consumers. Also, systems based on ebXML need to be fully interoperable across industry boundaries. As a result, ebXML should enable any company of any size in any industry to interact with any other company of any size in any other industry.[4]

The requirements also carefully delineate the business-to-business and business-to-consumer scope of the specifications. Currently ebXML puts first priority on meeting the needs of businesses for interactions among businesses and between businesses and consumers. However, the specifications cover only the business end of business-to-consumer exchanges, with the consumer side of the equation beyond its scope.

The requirements note that companies can also apply ebXML technology to interactions among applications within an enterprise. But the requirements give first priority to transactions among businesses or between businesses and consumers, over internal interactions between applications within a company.[5]

Meeting the needs of a global marketplace of course requires more than technical specifications. Companies need to meet a myriad of legal and cultural issues, as well as varying business practices within industries. We expect industry groups and trade-promotion agencies to address these issues, which extend beyond the scope of the ebXML specifications.