Interoperability Across Marketplaces u u u Mary Loomis

Interoperability Across Marketplaces u u u Mary Loomis VP, Engineering OOPSLA -- October 17, 2000 Topics The B 2 B Context Observations Challenges: • XML • Legacy • Connectivity • Process-Management Copyright c © 2000 Commerce One, Inc. 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

Traditional Enterprise-Centric View Supply Chain Customers Enterprise Indirect Procurement 1 Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

Traditional Business Models and Integration Requirements u Traditional models for electronic business are based on long-term, point-to-point, and tightly coupled relationships, often centered around a dominant enterprise n n 2 EDI is used here because high integration costs can be recovered over time Partners are more willing to invest in compatible IT infrastructure at each end or in middleware that creates a distributed application Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

Basic VAN Topology ERP EDI Translator VAN EDI Translator ERP 3 Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

Networks of Commerce Communities Assembly Outsourcing Supply Chain Distribution Customers Enterprise Indirect Procurement Markets Procurement Outsourcing 4 Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

Internet Business Models and Integration Requirements u u Both initial integration cost and incremental cost to evolve must be low u Point-to-point coupling approaches won’t support “describe once, {sell, buy} anywhere” goals u 5 Relationships are experimental, evolving and have shorter lifetimes overall Global scalability puts premium on being able to accommodate variation and dynamic trading Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

What is an Internet Market or Trading Community? u Marketplace x. CBL Other XML EDI Other XML Buyers 6 Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc. u The participating businesses u The services these businesses provide to each other u The messages and documents that are exchanged to request and perform the services Suppliers EDI x. CBL The “market maker” and “exchange operator”

Business Services are XML Document Exchanges If you send me a request for a catalog, I will send you a catalog ERP File XPC l al w re Fi Market. Site l al w re Fi XPC API ERP 7 Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc. If you send me a purchase order, I will send you a purchase order response

Document Choreography - Example Purchase. Order. Service : Buyer. Side Market Place Purchase. Order. Response Order. Status. Request Sales. Order. Service : Supplier. Side Purchase. Order. Response Order. Status. Request Order. Status. Response 8 Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

Trading Partner Interoperability, then “Plug and Play” Commerce Business services u u can interoperate because they share a common semantic framework u 9 are treated as reusable components whose interfaces are expressed as documents can be linked to create virtual companies, markets, and trading communities Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

Example Business Services u Procurement u Order management u Content services n n Catalog authoring and production Content publication and syndication Multi-supplier catalog management Content enhancement u u Global tax estimation u Business intelligence (data warehouse and reporting) u RFQ and RFP processes u Auctions and reverse-auctions u 10 Invoice reconciliation Import/export documentation u … Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

The Global Trading Web Utility Exchange (21 Members) Energy $1 Trillion of Buying Power Telecommunication Connected Global Trading Web Automotive Aerospace 11 Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

Observations u u “Classic Workflow” is not sufficient for interoperable marketplace document choreography u Cannot underestimate importance of the legacy (heritage) of standards, data, modes of conducting business, … u Wide range of trading partners’ needs implies multifaceted solutions to interoperability problems u 12 XML is not sufficient for document-centric interoperability Complexity enters the picture everywhere: distribution, internationalization, versioning, extensions, customization, dynamic evolution of business services Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

Current Approach u Business services to implement actions/process components, using objects as underlying technology u XML documents to share information, using XML Schemas to get data typing, subclassing, … u x. CBL document component library to implement shared semantics u Process flow management to implement mobility, using Internet as underlying technology u Versioning and extensions to implement evolution of docs, business services, process flow, … Implementation complexity is due partly to getting these still -evolving technologies to work well together. 13 Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

XML’s Big Idea: Document Types u Customer Profiles u Bill of Materials u Vendor Profiles u Payments u Catalogs u Deposits u Datasheets u Credit Reports u Price Lists u Schedules u Purchase Orders u Directories u Invoices u Schedules u Inventory Reports u …. whatever you need In XML the formal definition of permitted elements, attributes, and the rules by which they combine is called a Document Type Definition or DTD or schema 14 Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

XML Issues u u In my DTD, I have: <!ELEMENT Temperature (#PCDATA)> u In my document, I could have: <Temperature>34</Temperature> or <Temperature>Looks warm out today, Fred. </Temperature> u 15 Because XML comes from document processing, there is no strong data-typing. In neither case would the parser complain. There is no better way to do it with a DTD, either. Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

Other Issues u u 16 XML reflects object hierarchies, but DTDs do not provide a way to describe explicitly the inheritance underlying class-based object systems. There is no way to provide for local variation by extending or refining data structures, or renaming them locally - no “scoping. ” Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

XML Schemas u Developed to solve these problems. u u Data-types and element types become classes that can be extended, refined, and subclassed u 17 Include n Strong data-typing n Customizable data-types n Support for polymorphism and local use W 3 C began work on a standard for XML Schema XSDL - published in 2000 Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

Meanwhile, to get product out … u u 18 Commerce One did not wait for W 3 C; we developed SOX, the Schema language for Object-oriented XML. n SOX lets us “extend” or customize the standard components to reuse them in multiple documents n SOX lets us specify strong data-typing and semantic constraints, which enables better code generation, easier integration, more complete message validation Microsoft did not: they developed XDR - XML Data (Reduced). Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

Another part of the solution: x. CBL u u 19 x. CBL : XML Common Business Library n Started 3/97 n Library of reusable XML components common to many business domains n Framework for defining documents with common architecture n Defined using SOX; Distributed in DTD, XDR, and SOX forms See www. x. CBL. org Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

x. CBL Building Blocks CBL Documents Business Descriptions Business Forms Vendor core Catalog Services core Purchase Order Products Measurements Invoice Locale Classification Time Address core SIC Currency Country core NAICS Weight Language core FSC Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

Building Documents from Components CBL Documents Business Descriptions Business Forms Vendor core Catalog Services core Purchase Order Products Measurements Invoice Locale Classification Time Address core SIC Currency Country core NAICS Weight Language core FSC Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

Interoperability in B 2 B Document Architecture Market Registration Purchase Order Catalog Description Company Name Address Agent Name Title Role Buyer SKU Number 10023 Product Type Laptop Manufacturer IBM Model Think. Pad 560 Speed 166 MHz List Price $3500. 00 Product Order Payment Information Card 1 American Express 123 -234 -4444 Card 2 Visa 001 -234 -5678 22 Name Address SKU Number Manufacturer Model Quantity Price Method Account Number ERP Query SKU Number 46747456 In Stock 6 Customer Price $1500. 00

The EDI Legacy Sample EDI Message. . . 23 Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

XML {and, or, xor} EDI u u 24 XML is human-readable as well as machine processable XML is a way of making data self-describing Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

Perspective of Company Creating a New Internet Marketplace Implementation & Maintenance Cost EDI Benefit of Using XML Syntax XML Time 25 Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

Perspective of EDI-enabled Buyer or Supplier Implementation & Maintenance Cost EDI XML Cost of creating XML document types and mapping to/ from EDI 26 Time

x. CBL Combines EDI and XML u u Companies using EDI today see a clear migration path in x. CBL for mapping from EDI applications to XML u 27 EDI standards provide strong nonproprietary semantic foundation for x. CBL SMEs for whom EDI is not cost-effective can use x. CBL in simple Web applications to interoperate with EDI partners Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

Marketplace Operator’s Perspective with x. CBL Implementation & Maintenance Cost EDI Benefit of Using XML Syntax XML x. CBL Time 28 Benefit of Using XML Schemas and Component Library

EDI with x. CBL Implementation & Maintenance Cost EDI XML Benefit of Mapping EDI to/from x. CBL Time 29

EDI and XML Coexistence u Numerous “official” and ad hoc efforts underway to translate EDI concepts and specifications to XML n n u Some have modest incremental goal of translating X 12 or EDIFACT data element definitions to XML syntax Others envision a radical re-thinking of EDI Approaches n Generic EDI with XML routing wrapper – – n n u 30 EDI messages remain intact VAN replaced by e. Marketplace Convert EDI syntax into XML syntax (all EDI messages convert to one XML document type) Convert EDI semantics into XML semantics (full x. CBL encoding with new document types) The eb. XML Initiative objective: harmonized solution that preserves EDI semantics and exploits XML Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

eb. XML – www. ebxml. org u A joint initiative of OASIS (XML Vendors and Users) and UN/CEFACT (keepers of the EDIFACT standards) u Mission: To provide an open XML-based infrastructure enabling the global use of electronic business information in an interoperable, secure and consistent manner by all parties. u Technical WGs n n 31 Core Components (how to define message structures) Business Process (how to define markets, parties, resources, contracts, and processes) Registry and Repository (for registration and discovery of models and information) Messaging (transport layer and interfaces for message exchange) Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

Example Modes of e. Marketplace Connectivity ERP Flat File XPC Market. Site x. CBL Business Services web. Methods EB Desktop 32 Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc. Transformatio n Gateway x. CBL Tr an VA sf N or m at io n x. CBL Enterprises

Document Choreography Requirements u Distributed approach Cannot centralize a process flow manager Cannot centralize knowledge of choreographies n n u Asynchronous state management Provide Just Enough replication n u Flexibility Support customization and extensibility of “standard” choreographies Support coexistence of multiple versions n n u Heterogeneity Support wide range of connectivity options Deal with multiplicity of standards” n n 33 Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.

In Closing… B 2 B Internet Marketplaces n n n 34 Are revolutionizing businesses’ quests for efficiency Provide a wonderfully complex juxtaposition of computer science and business challenges Provide wide-open opportunity for innovation with commercial application – Find the synergies among “disciplines”: documents, databases, workflow, component-based frameworks, agents, distributed systems, transaction management, software engineering, … – Achieving interoperability is more than a standards issue Copyright c 2000 by Commerce One, Inc.