Re:RE: RE: Regarding the Thursday ebXML Conf Call

["Mark CRAWFORD"<mcrawfor@mail.lmi.org>]

David wrote -

Mark

You ask ...
>>>Although I personally can't understand why anyone would want to use an
antiquated technology such as e-mail to forward XML, especially in a
business to business exchange<<<

Mark, the reason is that it saves businesses money.

For example take one of our clients - General Motors. They have 30,000
suppliers. They do 80% of their business with 20% of their suppliers. The
other 20% of business they do with the other 80% of suppliers (i.e. it's the
usual 80-20 rule). However the smaller suppliers are not automated and cost a
lot in administrative time (i.e. people time) to work with them.

The way big companies like GM save money is by automating document
communications wiht **all** of their suppliers.

.. BUT ...

.. some of those suppliers are small 1-2 person businesses. They have
neither the skills nor the cost justification to invest in technology to
support on-line real-time HTTP connections. If you're lucky, many of them
now have email account, and if not that then a fax.

So we need to define a "messaging" approach that can scale to work with all
these types of business.

We need to support email for solid business reasons.

David - 

Are you suggesting that General Motors only uses Mime and only sends XML via
e-Mail?  

Please note that I also said "I do see the need to accomodate folks desires.  If
on the other hand, you are selecting mime as "the" ebXML solution, then I think
that you will loose participation and support of the bulk of the XML community" 

 I have not said "don't use mime".  I have only said that you shouldn't use mime
exclusively or you will turn off the XML community. Nothing anyone has said in
this thread has supported exclusive use of Mime in ebXML compliant exchanges. 
In fact, most of the arguments appear to say that mime is not the optimal
solution, only that it provides quick fix support to some issues.  




    Mark
Mark Crawford
Research Fellow
______
LMI Logistics Management Institute
2000 Corporate Ridge, McLean, VA 22102-7805
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