Business Collaboration Patterns and Monitored Commitments Specification Project Proposal

1. Objectives
   
   1.1 Purpose
   This project relates to the eBTWG key deliverable of facilitating the completion of activities related to ebXML Business Process and Core Components projects, specifically ensuring consistency with the ebXML architecture specification as identified in the eBTWG mandate.
   
   This project proposes to bring together several key artifacts of work from the ebXML project, and jointly continue their development work. Building on current ebXML work, three (3) essential themes will come together in this proposed project:
   • Developing Declarative Business Process Collaboration Pattern structures.
   • The notion of Commitments and the need for Monitored Commitments.
   • Identifying a closer alignment of Business Process Models (ebXML BP) and Information Models (ebXML Core Components) in this narrow but critical area.
   
   This project will generally define and show through example(s), what businesses can reasonably expect and what the underlying technology must support within a fully compliant ebXML business relationship.
   
   1.2 Scope
   Efficient business conversations are not only built upon transactions but also collaborations of transactions. For example a Commitment-Fulfillment pattern is the collaboration-level counterpart to a transaction-level Request-Response pattern. ebXML BPSS version 1.0 uses the declarative nature of UMM transaction patterns, incorporating them by reference, instead of requiring businesses to redefine each transaction. Business collaborations can similarly be made declarative from the business requirements view.
   
   Economic Commitment, as defined in UMM N090R10, is an obligation to perform an economic event at some future point in time. For example, each line item of a Purchase Order is a commitment. For this proposal, the work will start with Economic Commitments, but also generalize the idea of commitment to mean a promise to perform any specified event in the future, according to specified time constraints.
   
   The concept of Monitored Commitment helps operationally manage collaboration patterns and the state of a commitment. Monitored Commitment gives ebXML a critical element missing today at the ebXML-BP Collaboration level: (temporal schema commonly called) time constraints. Monitored Commitments also in part help answer questions:
   • What are the complimentary features of ebXML and EDI?
   • What are the unique selling points and target markets of ebXML and how do these compare with EDI?
   • What are the unique contributions of ebXML Business Process towards candidate proposals promoting themselves as business process modeling standards?
   
   Business Collaborations also have stages of work requiring uniform information requirements and provides context for re-use of Core Business Processes as well as Core Components. Further alignment, or structural inter-connectivity, of the ebXML Business Process Model and the ebXML Core Components information model becomes necessary. There is a broader and more generalized need for Business Process model and Information (document) model structural connectivity, than being addressed within this project proposal.
   
   
2. Deliverables
   Project deliverables are:
   1. Documented business examples, used as business requirements and test cases, including:
      • UMM (CEFACT/TMWG/N090) catalog order example extended to include delivery and payment.
      • Simplified small business (SME) order, delivery and payment.
      • Simplified small business (SME) order, delivery and prepayment.
      • Direct to customer retail 'dropship' scenario from the ebXML-BP Worksheets.
      • Tender and order fulfillment of complex oilfield services.
      • International order fulfillment and payments from BPAWG's model of the International Supply Chain (UN/CEFACT/BPAWG/BP044) and/or the Global Invoicing Project.
      • Automotive supply chain material replenishments, including commitments for raw materials and fabrication in addition to delivery schedules.
      • One or more examples from the Global Commerce Initiative (GCI) for retail.
      
      
   2. Documented revisions to the UMM (CEFACT/TMWG/N090) Business Requirements View (BRV) and Business Transaction View (BTV).
   3. Documented revisions to the ebXML-Business Process Specification Schema (BPSS).
   4. Several Business Collaboration Patterns, expressed as UMM models, XML Schemas and explanatory documents.
   5. Unified business process and information model (including ebXML Core Components) for examples and patterns.
   
   
3. Functional Expertise of Membership
   The project team is a group of experts with broad knowledge and experience in the areas of national and international business processes crossing multiple vertical industry and service sectors, as well as representation from the legal community and the technical development community.
   
   Each UN/CEFACT head of delegation may designate one or more experts to the project team. In doing so, they may delegate this task to one or more organizations, which may be national, regional or international. Experts are expected to contribute to the work based solely on their expertise.
   
   
4. Geographical Focus
   The focus is global and cross vertical industry.
   
   
5. Initial Contributions
   The following contributions are submitted as part of this proposal. It is understood that these are only for consideration by the project team and that other participants may submit their own contributions in order to ensure the gathering of as much information as possible from those with expertise and a material interest in the project but at the same time allow diverse voices to comment on the details of the projects and ensures that no single organization can dominate the process:
   • TMWG UN Modeling Methodology (CEFACT/TMWG/N090)
   • ISO Open-edi (ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 32/WG1 N181 - FDIS 15944-1)
   • BPAWG Reference Model of the International Supply Chain (UN/CEFACT/BPAWG/BP044)
   • ebXML Technical Specification - Business Process Specification Schema v1.01
   • ebXML Technical Specification - ebXML Technical Architecture Specification v1.04
   • ebXML Technical Report - Business Process Analysis Worksheets & Guidelines v1.0
   • ebXML Technical Report - E-Commerce Patterns v1.0
   • ebXML Technical Report - Catalog of Common Business Processes v1.0
   • ebXML Technical Report - Core Component Overview v1.05
   • ebXML Technical Report - Business Process and Business Information Analysis Overview v1.0
   • ebXML Technical Report - Context and Re-Usability of Core Components v1.04