[FWD: [ebxml-dev] T-Mobile International ebXML B2B Gateway Solution]

["David RR Webber \(XML\)" <david@drrw.info>]

FYI, DW

"The way to be is to do" - Confucius (551-472 B.C.)


-------- Original Message --------

 A new OASIS case study is published describing the deployment of the
ebXML messaging and collaboration protocol agreements OASIS Standards
at T-Mobile International. The full case study is available from
http://www.oasis-open.org/casestudies/ 

/////////// T-Mobile was founded in Germany July 1993 to provide mobile
telephony services in Germany. Since then, the company has developed
into an integrated and coordinated global brand, and one of the leading
international mobile communications carriers. T-Mobile operates in key
markets in Europe, including Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, the
Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, as well as in the United States.
By the end of 2006, T-Mobile International employed over 54,000 people
serving more than 106.4 million customers in the twelve T-Mobile
markets. T-Mobile International accounted for around 32 billion euros
revenue in fiscal 2006 and is a fast growing strategic business unit of
Deutsche Telekom, the international communications company. As a leading
mobile communications company, T-Mobile works closely with suppliers,
distributors, wholesalers and other strategic business partners, and
its corporate customers.  

Business collaborations such as ordering and billing involve massive
exchange of information, increasingly in electronic formats. In early
2003, the T-Mobile CRM department found that business partners of
T-Mobile started requesting a more capable and standards-based B2B
interface that would work for all business domains, replacing the
various non-standard machine-to-machine interfaces that had been
developed over the years. The EAI and Architecture team at T-Mobile’s
corporate IT Department worked with T-Mobile business units to select a
B2B standard, based on an analysis of the requirements of existing
electronic communication systems and some of the anticipated new
applications that were being planned. These requirements included the
ability to exchange business data in any format (XML, EDI, PDF),
without pre-defined limitations in message size in a reliable and
secure fashion among T-Mobile and its business partners, using an open
standard implemented in commercial off-the-shelf products. 

The framework that was found to best meet these requirements was ebXML,
in particular the ebXML Message Service and the ebXML Collaboration
Protocol Profile and Agreements technical specifications developed at
OASIS, the international open standards consortium. To validate the
decision to use ebXML and to select a commercial product to support its
implementation in the company, T-Mobile issued a Request for Information
to multiple vendors. T-Mobile selected Axway (previously Cyclone
Commerce) for a proof-of-concept to test both ebXML functionality
(including reliable messaging and packaging) and scalability of the
gateway to large numbers of business partners and large volumes. These
tests were completed successfully in spring 2004. 

As of December 2006, T-Mobile International has been operating a
production ebXML-based B2B gateway using this solution for over two
years. 
The number of business partners connected to the gateway is expected to
double in 2007, as the system will be used to serve more of the
geographies in which T-Mobile operates.  

In retrospect, the overall experience with ebXML at T-Mobile has been
very positive. If the decision would have to be made today, T-Mobile
would again select ebXML. One of the key benefits is that while ebXML
is a powerful technology, it is at the same time minimally intrusive to
existing applications. This means that existing systems and exchanges
can be made to benefit from a reliable and secure ebXML infrastructure
easily, with limited or no changes to back-end enterprise applications.