[ebxml-dev] ebXML has not failed

[bhaugen <linkage@interaccess.com>]

I hate falling for these trolls, and Mike Rawlins
should either wash his mouth out with soap or
write more clearly and carefully now that he sees
how his readers interpreted his message.
But somebody had to correct the subject line.

I would not claim that ebXML did everything it 
promised in its 18 months.  It was a standards org,
and everybody including Rawlins should know that
such groups wax exceedingly slowly and with lots
of internal conflict.  That's the way it is, we live in
an imperfect world.

But the work goes on both under UN/CEFACT eBTWG
and OASIS.  There will be a growing library of reusable
business processes, complete with documents.
They will follow and encapsulate both commercial law
and best business practices.  They will be freely
downloadable and customizable by vertical industry
groups or large supply chains.  There is now and 
will be increasing software vendor support.
The stuff will be cheap enough for SMEs.

So what do you think will win?  Microsoft's proprietary
stuff or an international standard?  (Actually I expect
MSFT to get behind an international standard in the
end.  Might be too slow for some people, including me,
but that's the way it is. The Internet-speed dotcom era
is gone anyway.)

See also:
http://www.supplychainlinks.com/TheUnitedNationsofeBusiness.htm 
(watch out for word wrap)

Happy New Year,
Bob Haugen