FW: [cpexchange-net] Fostering convergence

[Ram Kumar <rkumar@msi.com.au>]

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Ron Schmelzer [mailto:rschmelzer@zapthink.com]
Sent: Friday, June 01, 2001 7:13 AM
To: cpexchange-wg@yahoogroups.com; cpexchange-net@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [cpexchange-net] Fostering convergence

It may make sense for CPExchange to consider how it "plays" with other similar, customer profiling standards. Especially given the current tack in development and environment for convergence. Perhaps we should make this a focused agenda item for the next concall and see who we can get to join it? Or perhaps make it a point of agenda for the next face-to-face. I think it's important to realize that CPExchange is not the only profiling standard on the block and the challenges it faces may be surmounted by getting a greater critical mass of profiling standards users by ganging together with some of the other efforts.

 

In addition to the xNAL and xCIL specifications currently investigated by the CIQ group at OASIS, another interesting personal information standard has come to light, the eXtensible Name Service (XNS) standard.

 

Here is an excerpt from the ZapThink XML Standards Report listing of XNS (http://www.zapthink.com)

 

"While not a customer relationship standard per se, the main goal of the eXtensible Name Service (XNS) is to provide a single point of management and exchange of personal contact information, establish a global, online identity, and allow for distribution in a redundant manner, similar to the efforts of the Domain Name Service (DNS). XNS accomplishes this by providing an XML format in combination with a web agent model that allows for exchange, linking, and synchronization of information. In conjunction with these models, XNS adds a layer of privacy through the use of registration agreements and leveraging of the Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P).

 

XNS introduces a few major concepts into the realm of customer information profiling. One of these features is the concept of a personal “superaddress” or “universal address” that serves to identify a person in the same way that a domain name identifies a machine or group of machines. The universal address supercedes the notions of email address, phone, and fax number by providing a one-time consolidation of addressing and profile data into an XML digital container. This container is then managed by an XNS agent that determines how it may be exchanged, if at all. One issue is that the XNS identifier is only 64 characters long – perhaps insufficient to manage a global need for identifiers.

 

XNS also introduces the idea of the e-card, which is similar in nature to the vCard specification. XNS allows for profiles to be transmitted in the form of virtual business cards that may then be added to personal or business stores of information. The e-card is then agent-enabled so that it is synchronized to the global XNS store and then made accurate for the life of the XNS record. The XNS synchronization method utilizes a primary XNS address book that eventually is maintained by the information owner and distributed in a DNS-like system. The information to be synchronized contains not only personal information but profile information as well.

 

The XNS system also allows for “single sign-in” that obsoletes the need for username and password.             Systems that have previously exchanged XNS profiles can then use them as passports to enable and allow access to systems. XNS similarly enables auto form-fill for web forms requesting personal information.

 

XNS privacy is enabled by the use of XNS privacy contracts that utilizes P3P to record applicable security and privacy policies for the use of information. XNS permission filtering also restricts email “spam” and allows for a more focused opt-in or opt-out methodology to direct advertising. The XNS email privacy contract in conjunction with email permission lists are specifically aimed at safeguarding a user’s email information.

 

The efforts of XNS are much needed and can help in the standardization of a secure, private exchange of customer information. However, it is unclear what the current level of development of the standard is, since none of the work has been released on the website to date. In addition, one must investigate how XNS competes or augments the work of eXtensible Name/Address Language (xNAL), the associated eXtensible Customer Information Language (xCIL), and the Customer Profile eXchange (CPExchange) standard. Perhaps the three should find some way to merge their efforts as they each solve different parts of the same customer information puzzle. As far as XNS is concerned, XNS is worth being tracked and evaluating once the specification is made available to the public.

 

More information about XNS can be found at: http://www.xns.org

Information about ZapThink can be found at http://www.zapthink.com"

_________________________________
Ronald Schmelzer
rschmelzer@zapthink.com
Senior Analyst
ZapThink LLC
Phone/Fax: 240-539-8792
www.zapthink.com