Making best use of XML within the enterprise

It is now generally accepted that XML will become established as a key enabler for Web and Internet-based enterprise information exchange and distributed computing. However, many user organisations are finding it is difficult to know how best to adopt a technology that has a role to play in so many aspects of an enterprise's information and IT architecture.

At the 9th International World Wide Web Conference (WWW9), held in Amsterdam this May, RivCom, OASIS and the UK W3C Office ran a one-day Workshop of invited experts including XML consultants and representatives of vendors, standards bodies and user organisations. The aim of the Workshop was to identify and explore the issues facing organisations that are seeking to adopt XML and provide useful input to the Workshop organisers, who are considering the potential for developing a coherent set of materials that could be put in the public domain to support organisations seeking to gain benefit from the adoption of XML.

In this panel discussion participants in the WWW9 Workshop will report on the agreed conclusions of the event, but also dynamically represent the differing views and unresolved issues that emerged within the Workshop.

Note: At the time of writing the Workshop had not yet taken place so it is not possible to identify the issues and outcomes in this paper.

Contents

Issue
Workshop of practioners
The panel discussion
Acknowledgements

Issue

All the major analysts agree. XML will become established as a key enabler for Internet-based enterprise information exchange and distributed computing. But while the importance of XML as an enabling technology is becoming well understood, organisations often find it difficult to know how best to develop a strategy to support the introduction of a technology that can play a role in so many aspects of an enterprise's information and IT architecture, including:

information delivery - enabling information to be assembled from multiple sources to meet individual requirements

inter-application messaging - enabling data transfer within and between organizations to facilitate EDI and system interoperability

intra-application messaging - to supplement or replace such protocols as CORBA, COM/DCOM and Enterprise Java Beans in the development of distributed computing applications.

Enterprises also have to determine how to respond to the fact that the supporting infrastructure is only now becoming capable of sustaining wide-scale adoption.

Enterprises need to determine:

When to act? Should they wait until the whole family of XML standards is stable and XML is fully integrated into the major software products? Or should they seek to derive real benefits at an earlier stage?

How to start? Does XML lend itself to an incremental approach with pilot projects addressing issues relevant to specific domains within the enterprise? Or is it appropriate to develop an enterprise-wide strategy from the beginning?

Systems or information? Should we think of XML from a systems perspective, and focus on the benefits of improved IT architectures? Or is XML about information, requiring the development of improved business, information and data models before its benefits can be fully realised?

Alone or together? Some benefits can be achieved by adopting XML within the single enterprise, but others require the development of common DTDs and schemas throughout the supply chain and across industry sectors. How should the enterprise work with customers and suppliers to make the most effective use of XML? Or can individual enterprises "go-it-alone"? And what is the role of resources like XML.org and BizTalk and initiatiatives like ebXML?

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Workshop of practioners

The organisers of the 9th International World Wide Web Conference, held in Amsterdam on 15 May 2000 invited RivCom, OASIS and the UK W3C Office to organise a one-day Workshop at the conference to address these issues.

The Workshop brought together leading figures from the XML world representing user organisations, software vendors, consultancies and standards bodies, including representatives from Boeing, DataChannel, ebXML, Flash Creative Management, IBM, NATO, OASIS, and Sun Microsystems among many others.

The Workshop explored the issues described above and sought to develop an initial framework of options that any organisation considering the adoption of XML might need to consider. The aim was to provide input and guidance to the organisers of the Workshop who were considering the potential for developing a set of materials that could be put in the public domain to support organisations seeking to make best use of XML within the Enterprise.

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The panel discussion

In the panel discussion some of those who participated in the WWW9 Workshop will report on the proceedings of that event (including the areas of agreement and the planned forward path toward the development of publicly available materials aimed at supporting organisations seeking to make best use of XML within the enterprise). In addition the panel will seek to dynamically represent the differing views and unresolved issues that emerged within the WWW9 Workshop, thereby stimulating further discussion involving members of the audience. It is anticipated that this discussion will provide further input into the development of publicly available materials.

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Acknowledgements

The panel members would like to acknowledge and thank all those that contributed to the WWW9 Workshop - Making Best Use of XML within the Enterprise.

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