[ebxml-mktg] RE: [ebxml-dev] Gartner and ebXML - distribution of thearticle

[David RR Webber - XMLGlobal <Gnosis_@compuserve.com>]

Rachel,

I must pick up on this.  

I have been tirelessly working from day-one in ebXML and 
before to ensure that we have technology that is
able to be deployed into environments with limited technical
resources and without the need for complex tools.

Certainly the new work that the CCR and now BRIM working group
that I chair has been doing over the last year is fully focused on
providing simple XML based mechanisms to achieve critical
functionality - payload assembly - and nouns and verbs support
for core components and business information entities (component
aggregates).

In fact the latest assembly work is a DIRECT result of working with
business staff as part of the OAG sponsored STAR effort with
ebXML - and providing mechanisms that make OAGIS V8.0 
easier and simpler to implement and manage for end users,
not programmers.

You should particularly note that W3C XML and schema is 
woefully inadequate in these areas - as is other technologies 
such as RELAX NG.  To be fair - they were never intended to 
solve these problems - and are being purposed out-of-scope.
OAGIS have used XSLT and Examplotron to bolster the gaps
today.  And I've been tracking Schema for the past two years
closely - it will never be SME friendly on its current path, 
whereas ebXML is delivering technology that clearly is.

So I take issue with the assertion that ebXML is not SME friendly.

People should not confuse robust and comprehensive standard
specifications with difficulty of use.  Vendors are deploying
solutions that are engineered around the standards that do
make it simple for the end user.  Again I would point to the
OAG/STAR pathfinder - where simple web screens allow
users to manage, launch and track message exchanges.

At this point in the game - we should do well to remember
too - that the key large players will drive ebXML forward,
and that the SME base will grow and benefit from that 
as vertical industry applications adopt ebXML based
underpinning.

While it is true that certain aspects of ebXML are highly
research based, this is not inappropriate - two years 
from now these pieces will seem common place.
Today however ebXML is providing clear and focused
components that make sense, and are tested and proven.

Rome was not built in a day, and certainly not by
ignoring the wishes of all citizen communities!

Thanks, DW.
=========================================================
Message text written by Rachel Forster
>On the other hand, I've been watching the ongoing work of the various
technical committees and work groups, especially those continuing the ebXML
work under UN/CEFACT and have grave concerns about the extreme complexity
now being built into the various specifications. It appears to me that the
needs and focus on the SME have been totally eclipsed by the big guys. I
can
remember my remarks at the ebXML Brussels meeting in May, 2000, that if
ebXML does not meet the needs of the SME, it will fail. I hope that this is
not what I'm observing at the present time. Thus, Gartner's comments below
about the "good enough" certainly ring true.
<