The drive to create global e-business standards took a step forward
this week when Oasis, an IBM-backed standards group, adopted
Microsoft's e-commerce standard, simple object access protocol
(SOAP).
Oasis is to use SOAP as the message-level protocol for e-business
XML (ebXML), which its members are designing to simplify and
standardise commercial transactions over the Net.
IBM and Microsoft have worked jointly to improve SOAP. After the
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) criticised the standard for its
lack of security, the two rivals modified and resubmitted SOAP
earlier this month.
Oasis plans to provide W3C with a working draft of its XML protocol
by the end of the month. It will specify a uniform standard for
exchanging XML messages and outline a common format for doing
business over the Internet.
The ebXML standard should cover complex transactions and enable
users to co-ordinate and process Web services from different
organisations.
This agreement over SOAP is good news for the industry, because
Oasis is starting to work with potential competitors, said Giga
Information Group analyst Uttam Narsu.
"One thing it portends is the end of friction between ebXML and
other Web services. Things like UDDI [Universal Description,
Discovery and Integration]
come out like weeds in a garden. UDDI took Oasis by surprise, but
now its members have learnt their lesson. Oasis is starting to tend
to its garden," he said.
Despite this rapprochement, ebXML remains incompatible with
Microsoft's e-business product BizTalk Server 2000. Narsu believes
this could cause problems in the future.
"BizTalk is out already and it's being widely adopted because it's
so cheap. Both sides need to work together for e-business to work,"
he said.
IBM marketing manager, Roger Warner, believes Oasis will surmount
this obstacle when the time comes.
"No one pretends this is the answer to all our prayers, it's just a
question of getting the momentum going. What we have learnt from
our experience with open source is that problems get solved sooner
rather than later," he said.
Chris Mugan