Re: [ebxml-cppa-negot] Re: question: are there things you cant do with ebxml?

[Martin Sachs <msachs@cyclonecommerce.com>]

Hi Marcus,

Here are some answers to your questions:

ebXML is a complete set of specifications for the message-exchange
portions of electronic commerce.  Work is in progress both in ebXML
and in UN/CEFACT to continue the work in progress on business-process
specifications that would be used on top of the ebXML specifications. The
core components specification will define the structure of business
documents.Work is also in progress on an ebXML specification for
automated negotiation of the contents of a CPA. The completed ebXML
specifications cover:

• Message exchange
• CPP and CPA, profile and agreement on the technical parameters of message exchange.
• Business-process specification schema (BPSS), which defines message choreography and provides the interface to business process definitions. (Work continues on extending this to richer functionality.)
• Registry, for storing information about trading partners and enabling trading partners to search for each other.

Companies are in the process of implementing these specifications.
An interoperability team is working on specifications for testing
interoperability.  In my opinion, ebXML is functional for
collaborations between two business partners except that business process
specification work is still in progress in ebXML and UN/CEFACT. However,
two companies can define a business process to suit themselves and use a
BPSS instance document to connect it to the rest of the ebXML
suite.

One alternative to ebXML is Web Services, a project primarily of the
World Wide Web Consortium.  At this time, the Web Services
specifications deal with business processes in which there is a client
and a service provider and the service provider dictates all the terms
and conditions. Another alternative is to use "classic EDI"
(Electronic Data Interchange), which has a rich set of specifications but
is quite complex and provides no automation of the process of linking
partners with each other.

A "trading partner agreement" (TPA) is an EDI function. 
It is a text document that defines both the business process terms and
conditions and the technical terms and conditions for exchanging
messages.  A TPA has to be read by programmers, in each trading
partner's enterpprise, who write or configure the run-time code needed to
implement the collaboration.  In principle, the technical terms and
conditions in a TPA could be replaced by a reference to an ebXML CPA but
I do not believe that a standard specification exists for doing so. I
believe that the UN/CEFACT architecture document talks about a TPA as
including a CPA but I do not believe that any work has been done to
support such a  statement.

As to influencing the earnings and revenues of companies, such
information is quite proprietary within each company.  I can only
say that companies are implementing ebXML, so they must believe that it
will improve their figures.

As Monica pointed out, if you subscribe to the ebXML-cppa-comment list,
you will be able to ask further questions and get answers from the people
on the team.

Regards,
Martin Sachs
Lead, automated-negotiation subteam


> X-XWall-Bayes: 18 
> From: "Monica J. Martin" <Monica.Martin@Sun.COM> 
> To: Markus Unkels <markus.unkels@boersen-team.de> 
> Cc: ebxml-cppa-negot <ebxml-cppa-negot@lists.oasis-open.org> 
> Subject: [ebxml-cppa-negot] Re: question: are there things you cant do
> with ebxml? 
> Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2004 07:57:46 -0700 
> X-Assembled-By: XWall v3.28 
> X-OriginalArrivalTime: 15 Feb 2004 14:57:54.0296 (UTC)
> FILETIME=[171DEF80:01C3F3D4] 
>
> Markus Unkels wrote:
>
> >hi
> >i hope i'm writing to the correct address ;-)
> >
> >at the moment i'm studying economics and computer science.
> >in February i have to tell other students something about ebxml and
> trading
> >partner agreements. i got a link from my professor to a pdf-file
> concerning
> >the structure of cpp and cpa. but i also have to tell something about
> the
> >possibilities of trading partner agreements and to answer the
> question where
> >there are borders and limitations of ebxml, so to say: what you cant
> do with
> >ebxml and tpas.
> >unfortunately i did not find lots of information in the 
> internet
> >about the limitations of ebxml...
> >
> >i would be very glad if someone could tell me something about:
> >
> >1. what are the limitations of ebxml?
> >2. what are the advantages? why should i use ebxml and cpas instead
> of other
> >specifications?
> >3. do trading partner agreements only consist of cpp/cpa and
> process
> >specification documents or are there other documents?
> >4. does ebxml influence the earnings and revenues of companys like
> commerce
> >one? could it improve the figures of thoses companys?
> >
> >thank you very much. you would help me a lot.
> >
> >markus
> >
> >  
> >
> mm1: Markus, contact Sacha Schlegel and Martin Sachs by posting to 
> ebxml-cppa-comment. You can get to this from: 
> http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=ebxml-cppa.
> There has been quite a bit of discussion about trading partner 
> agreements, the role of CPPA and UBAC. Thanks.
>
>
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*************************************
Martin Sachs
standards architect
Cyclone Commerce
msachs@cyclonecommerce.com