[ebxml-msg] The PartyID Conundrum

If by PartyID, we mean those unique IDs like D-U-N-S, EAN GLN, SCAC, ABA
Routing code, etc., then there's certainly the possibility one or more
of these (even in the same domain, e.g., two or more DUNS numbers) can
be equated to one enterprise.  None of these IDs is ever equated to
multiple enterprises, though; if they could, it would defeat the purpose
of an ID, wouldn't it?

Maybe we've been hung up on this because <PartyId> as used in Messaging
Services should have been called something like <EnterpriseId> or
<OrganizationId>.  The term "Party" is overloaded within ebXML.  It's
use in Core Components implies a functional area or person within an
organization (e.g., "Buyer," "Accounting," "Ship To").

It's nice that - for completeness - a low-level (and oft-changing) URL
can be used for routing within Messaging Services, but I think trading
partners would likely want to use the business (or "Organization" or
"Enterprise") identifiers they're already familiar with.  And they do
that with a VAN today: they slap the DUNS into the X12 ISA or UN/EDIFACT
UNB receiver field, and it's on its way, (somewhat) safely, securely and
reliably - with nary a concern for the port the data will be shunted to.
Internally, the recipient may use the functional group ID (from the
GS) - or another internal routing designation - to ferry the data
onward, but that's not the concern of the sender (or the VAN).

I must not be alone in thinking businesses want to simply address their
electronic data with a single organization identifier (which may be one
of many IBM DUNS!).  See the attached posting made to the WEDi
Transactions listserve today, where a similar issue is being discussed
in the context of HIPAA '96.  Only the front part of the e-mail is
important;  participants in the WEDi SNIP forums have a tendency - like
those in the OASIS ebXML forums - to carry along weeks' worth of a
thread in the body of their postings!

William J. Kammerer
Novannet, LLC.