Re: [ebxml-bp] comments on ebBP FAQ

Sacha

Good questions and answers. Helps me think through how to better construct the contents of our FAQ

Let me try another expression of what I hope is consistent with Monica’s answer to the question of

> What is the actual value of using business signals? It seems it needs

> lot of infrastructure to a) monitor them and b) to handle exceptions.

> You mention it is used for state alignment, what state are you

talking about?

State alignment is when parties in the Business Transaction see the same business activity. This provides confidence to the parties that they can collaborate/do business. Not only does state alignment provide confidence but it has been codified in many legal systems as a requirement for a legal agreement. Since we want ebBP to have the ability to conduct legal transactions we are providing facilites to enable it. The Business Signal is computable so it known at any point in the process the activity being engaged in by the participants. This is important in order to think of the ebBP spec as having commercial viability.

> question)

> can an ebBP instance be executed by an execution engine?

> asnwer)

> an ebBP instance is not inteded to be executed per ce but can be

> interpreted for monitoring.

The software that manages the rules and configuration parameters of an ebBP instance is a BSI. Part of the managing is monitoring to insure that the expectations of the parties are adhered to and if not that the appropriate action is taken. A BSI manages a party’s participation in the collaboration.

MUST the actual message flow between trading partner follow exactly

the

> choreography defined in the ebPB? should the ebBP be enforced?

> answer)

> ??? potentially yes. Actually it is up to you to decide how to handle

> out of bound messages. If a 1 Million Euro order is not in sync ...

> better think twice whether you reject this message simply because it

is

> out of order or not. But generally you use ebBP to standardize the

> collaborative business processe between the different trading

> partners ... so it is intended to be followed as well.

The parties in the colloaboration define the choreography in the ebBP including contingencies for when expected actions do not occur.

> can an ebBP also be used for other things?

> answer)

> the ebBP is a great help to document the collaborative business

process

> and then communicate these collaborative business processes to your

> trading partners. So it defenitely can be used as a documentation

tool.

> Another usage of ebBP's is to drive a portion of the ebXML
 CPA

> management process, if you are using the ebXML CPA component at all.

An ebBP can be used for collaboration between parties, collaborations between business partners is the most frequent utilization, and is consistent with the original intent of the ebXML framework. But other purposes can be served by the ebBP specification. For example, ebBP can be used to document collaborative business processes.

Sacha, I am still working on revising the FAQ, so feedback on these responses is welcomed.

Sally

ebxml-bp message