RE: XML and the Real World

[Michael Brennan <Michael_Brennan@allegis.com>]

Sorry if this all sounds like a marketing plug, but I thought some detail on
what we do might be helpful in conveying our real-world, mission-critical
use of XML technology.

We use XML pervasively in our software. I'm not sure where our product suite
fits into your categories. It's sort of in both the "commerce" and
"information" sectors, but probably leans more toward the "information"
sector, at present. We are in a nascent software category called Partner
Relationship Management (PRM). PRM is founded on two key notions:
* The Internet will not wipe out traditional business models. It can be a
very effective tool, though, for improving business processes. (The bursting
of the dot-com bubble is finally driving this point home for most people.)
* Most commerce occurs through indirect channels, and often involves the
collaboration of multiple partners to sell a solution. The Internet will not
change this; not everyone is going to sell everything direct to the
consumer.

Our software is all about enabling a vendor to create an online community
for collaboration and interaction with their partners, and for supporting a
business strategy of forging and leveraging strong partner relationships for
competitive advantage.

All of our current customers license our software on a hosted model (i.e. an
ASP model). However, our system is typically used as part of a larger
solution. They are synchronizing information between our system and offline
tools. They are integrating our system with CRM, ERP, and other backoffice
systems, often in real-time with a high level of interaction between
systems. They are integrating our solution into larger portals that employ
single sign-on and provide a seamless user experience for their partners.
And this is being done between systems that span the internet.

We use XML for the following:
* Defining the data model and other relevant metadata in a custom XML-based
schema. This schema supports a rich data model (basically an ER model
extended with the notion of inheritance) that can then be used at run time
to create or modify a relational database schema to support the data model,
and to actually create the relevant entities (in the ER sense of the term)
at runtime (i.e. without hand-coding a bunch of classes). This supports very
rapid development and customization of our solution. (Our deployment
timelines are typically a fraction of our competitors', even with
considerable customization.) This data model also supports a rich, dynamic,
rules-based security model that manages security down to the record and
field level (and which can be queried by the UI to appropriately customize
application views).
* Providing transparent mappings between hierarchical query and record
structures and XML. These hierachical query and record structures are
inferred from the schema, and provide hierarchical views into our data model
(which is essentially a lattice).
* Defining a rich, adaptable integration API that is completely XML-based
and suitable for use over the internet (via S-HTTP). This is not just for
synchronizing data, but also for invoking arbitrary business logic and
incorporating our system into a larger workflow.

Our customers run the gamut from those who are eager to exploit XML
technologies, to those who are quite wary of XML and need some hand-holding.
For the latter, we provide toolkits and code samples to guide any
implementation effort on their part. Some of the latter are resistant to the
use of XML initially. Once they've successfully completed an integration at
low cost and in a short timeline (with a little help from us), they
typically become converts and are happy using XML.

We are not too concerned about the lack of vertical industry standards. We
and our customers are doing just fine without them, and we are certainly not
going to sit on our hands and wait for them. However, if there are such
standards that gain widespread adoption which we can leverage to reduce
implementation efforts -- and which don't constrain us to a rigid,
non-extensible vocabulary that cannot adequately address business need -- we
will support them. We'll do what makes sense to make it easy for customers
and partners to integrate our solution into larger solutions that match
their business processes. I can see the SAML initiative that OASIS is
undertaking as something we will probably leverage, for instance, since so
many of our deployments involve single sign-on and security that must span
multiple systems across the internet.

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Champion [mailto:mike.champion@softwareag-usa.com]
Sent: Friday, June 29, 2001 8:49 AM
To: xml-dev
Subject: XML and the Real World


This came up in the Blueberry debate, but didn't get much discussion:  How
many real-world, mission-critical, money-making applications currently
depend on XML technology?  My semi-educated guess is:

In "internet commerce" broadly defined, XML is a widely used, perhaps even
dominant technology.  In more traditional business to business transactions,
traditional EDI rules, and there are numerous pilot projects to *supplement*
EDI with XML B2B technology so that the benefits of EDI can be extended to
small shops.
 
In the "information" industry broadly defined (publishing, web sites,
portals), a fair amount is really done today.  I suspect that most of us are
using or selling XML solutions in this sector.

In manufacturing, XML is being used in prototypes, proof of concept
applications, and lots of vertical industry standards discussions, but
relatively little day-to-day business depends on it now.  Even the
electronics industry, where RosettaNet was an early XML effort, I get the
impression that RosettaNet-based processes are just starting to come into
production, with significant but modest "real world" milestones set for
later this year.

In general, I get the impression that the prototypical response of a
real-world Chief Information Officer to XML is something like "Very
interesting stuff; we're keeping an eye on it and doing some pilot projects.
When our industry standardizes on a small set of XML vocabularies, we plan
to incorporate it into our business processes."

Anybody with hands-on experience care to comment, pro or con, on my
semi-educated guesses?  A reference to any articles on this subject would
also be appreciated.