Overview
Businesses have come to realize that information resources and technologies are key corporate assets and decisions on these matters need to be made at the highest level in an enterprise (including public sector and not-for-profit organizations). As a result, when new standards come along with the potential for expanding collaborative e-business relationships that open new opportunities, improve cash flow, and reduce costs, business people need to know about them. That is the purpose of the new book, ebXML: the New Global Standard for doing Business On the Internet. The book describes this new set of specifications not only in terms of the technology, but also in terms of their impact on the way business really work.
Most of the larger enterprises in the world have done e-business for as long as 20 years, using a technology called electronic data interchange or EDI. While these larger companies have benefited from EDI, smaller companies rarely can afford the software or the internal management EDI requires. EbXML however, takes advantage of advances in Internet technologies and the large installed base of Internet-connected systems, to encourage the development of low-priced, plug-and-play solutions that many smaller companies can afford.
The book outlines the demanding and changing business conditions that make collaborative e-business imperative for growing numbers of companies, and show how ebXML is designed to meet these conditions. It offers an executive-level overview giving the ebXML specifications in a nutshell and scenarios of how ebXML can work in practice. The book then provides fuller descriptions of ebXMLs business requirements, XML, earlier work involving XML for business data exchange, related web services specifications, and more details of the ebXML technical architecture.
ebXML: the New Global Standard for doing Business On the Internet is the first book on ebXML, and the only extended work so far, either print or electronic, written for business managers. The technical documentation provides specific guidance for systems developers, but it is the business people who make the fundamental business decisions on using technology strategically, and this book addresses those concerns.
There are several books available today on XML or e-commerce. Those books are clearly written for a different audience, the in-the-trenches programmer or the high-level executive. They fail to write to the manager who is responsible for the actual implementation. These managers, and their staff, come from numerous departments with varying disciplines and objectives in executing such a grand initiative.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewebXML may be the key enabler for next-generation global e-commerce: a powerful new standard for describing, exchanging, and integrating business processes and agreements among companies, partners, and customers. Now, there's a complete, up-to-the-minute briefing for every businessperson and IT pro who must decide whether and how to implement ebXML.
Alan Kotok and David R. R. Webber first review "the story so far": why the ebXML initiative was established, what its goals are, and what it's accomplished so far. They offer an "in-a-nutshell" overview of ebXML's components, architecture, and process flows, followed by a chapter of scenarios for ebXML use (it's too early, unfortunately, to present live case study successes). Next, they explain how ebXML builds on -- or relates to -- EDI, XML, UML, SOAP, UDDI, WSDL, and other strategic technologies. (While they do present Microsoft's BizTalk initiative, we'd have liked a clearer discussion of how BizTalk and ebXML compete with, or complement, each other.)
In a detailed introduction to ebXML's technical architecture, you'll learn exactly how ebXML utilizes business process specifications, registries, and repositories. The authors review the issues associated with establishing ebXML-based trading partner relationships; introduce ebXML messaging services; and explain ebXML's core components: common data items that share the same meaning no matter what message they appear in. The book ends with a look at the process of getting a company up and running with ebXML.
If you're developing with ebXML, you'll still need the standards documents. But if you want a thorough understanding of the technology for planning and decision-making purposes, this is your book. (Bill Camarda)
Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer with nearly 20 years' experience in helping technology companies deploy and market advanced software, computing, and networking products and services. He served for nearly ten years as vice president of a New Jersey–based marketing company, where he supervised a wide range of graphics and web design projects. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2000 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks For Dummies®, Second Edition.
This book is about doing electronic business (e-business) and a new initiative called electronic business XML (ebXML), designed to extend the benefits of e-business. It describes how the ebXML specifications can open new markets and higher productivity, and discusses the development of the specifications under the guidance of the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards and the United Nations Center for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business. Material is written to be accessible to both business and technical readers. Kotok is a reporter and writer on technology, business, and public policy. Webber is vice-president for business development with an XML technology company. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR