RE: Collaboration Services (was: Business Service Interface)

[Bob Haugen <linkage@interaccess.com>]

Jean-Jacques Dubray:
>Again, sorry to repeat my self, there is a fundamental difference between a
>collaboration and a business process. A collaboration is a deterministic
>sequence of message, a business process is a deterministic sequence of
>activities (units of work). There is a binding between activities and
>messages which is out of scope for ebXML

Where does this definition come from? It is difficult to
communicate unless we agree on some set of definitions,
and I am trying to go with those in the latest BP spec.
If I read the metamodel specs accurately, the sequence of 
commercial transactions in a business collaboration is determined 
by pre and post conditions.  Some kinds of activities are in scope.  
If you think I am misreading the BP spec, please 
let me know, I am always ready to admit a mistake.

>What is the alternative here? let your partners interact with your
>systems any way they want hoping for the best? 

Do you really think that is what I am saying?

>I REPEAT A
>COLLABORATION DOES NOT DEPEND ON AN "INVENTORY LEVEL" 
>OR "PRODUCTION CAPACITY". It is your response within the collaboration 
>that depends on that.

Of course, did you think I was saying anything different?
But the future course of the collaboration (the sequence) 
may depend on my response, at least in some of the
cases on my mind.  For example, in a negotiated order
scenario, if I receive an order request and accept it, that
ends the collaboration.  If I reject it, the collaboration is
ends in a different state.  But if I make a counter-offer,
the collaboration may extend for several more round
trips.

>Again sorry to repeat my self, this approach does not require "specialized
>business collaboration software", it allows to configure any architecture to
>implement a collaboration from a human behind a browser or a fax machine to
>the most elaborate IT architecture.

Good, I will look forward to more details and examples.
(But if your point is that humans can follow a set of rules,
I concede...)

-Bob Haugen