Extensible Markup Language (XML) has become the alternative choice for
defining data interchange formats in new eBusiness applications on the
Internet in the last few years. However, EDI implementations embody
substantial experience in business processes, and companies with large
investments in EDI integration will expect measurable ROI for the IT
investment.
XML enables more open, more flexible business transactions than EDI. XML
might enable more flexible and innovative "eMarketplace" business models than
EDI. The ebXML specifications provide a framework in which EDI's substantial
investments in business processes can be preserved in an architecture that
leverages XML's new technical capabilities.
By addressing the problem from the standpoint of business workflow, ebXML
technical architecture specifications standardizes common business processes
as objects. A cornerstone of ebXML architecture was allowing these
objects to be reused so that ebXML could provide for the means to unify
cross-industry exchanges with a single consistent dictionary of business
terms.