OASIS Forms Technical Committee to Develop XML Specification for Managing Business Transactions
Boston, MA, USA; January 31, 2001–OASIS, the interoperability consortium, has formed a new technical committee to develop an XML-based protocol for managing complex, business-to-business (B2B) transactions over the Internet. The OASIS Business Transactions Technical Committee plans to build an open specification for XML message interfaces that will support the coordination and processing of Web services from different organizations. “Long lasting transactions spanning multiple enterprises pose a unique challenge for B2B systems,” explained Rocky Stewart of BEA Systems, chair of the OASIS Business Transactions Technical Committee. “By establishing an open XML specification to coordinate the workflows that drive this process, the OASIS Business Transactions Technical Committee will work to ensure that the outcome of a B2B transaction is reliable–regardless of how many players are involved or how long it takes to execute.” The new OASIS committee initially plans to base its work on the Business Transaction Protocol (BTP) specification, submitted to the Consortium by BEA Systems. BTP allows complex XML message exchanges to be tracked and managed as loosely coupled ‘conversations’ between businesses. OASIS welcomes the submission of other suitable technologies for consideration in this work. Karl Best, director of technical operations for OASIS, noted, “The goal of this committee is to develop an XML protocol that works in conjunction with existing business messaging standards, particularly ebXML.” The Electronic Business XML (ebXML) Initiative, sponsored by the United Nations CEFACT and OASIS, is a set of specifications to enable global business. Best added, “Although the work of the OASIS Business Transactions Technical Committee will extend beyond the problem domain currently being addressed by ebXML, the development will be designed to complement the ebXML underlying transport mechanism.” Organizations and individuals interested in business transaction issues are invited to join the OASIS Business Transactions Technical Committee and participate in this development. Information on Consortium membership can be found on http://www.oasis-open.org. About OASIS OASIS (http://www.oasis-open.org) is the international, not-for-profit consortium that advances electronic business by promoting open, collaborative development of interoperability specifications. With the United Nations, OASIS sponsors ebXML, a global framework for electronic business data exchange. OASIS operates XML.ORG, the non-commercial portal that delivers information on the use of XML in industry. The XML.ORG Registry provides as an open community clearinghouse for distributing and locating XML application schemas, vocabularies and related documents. OASIS serves as the home for industry groups interested in developing XML specifications. OASIS technical work embraces conformance, repositories and other interoperability issues. OASIS sponsors include Adobe Systems, Access360, Aerospatiale, AND Data Solutions, Arbortext, Auto-trol, Aventail, Baltimore Technologies, B-Bop Associates, BEA Systems, Bentley Systems, Boeing, Bowstreet, Bridge, Chrystal Software, Cohesia, Commerce One, Critical Path, DataChannel, Dataloom, Defense Information Services Agency, Deutsche Post AG, Documentum, EADS Airbus, eCredit.com, empolis, Enigma, Excelergy, eXcelon, Extensibility, Extricity, First Call, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, icomXpress, Informix, Infoteria, Innodata, Interwoven, IPNet Solutions, ISOGEN, ITEDO, Jamcracker, JetForm, Logistics Management Institute, Mediaplex, Mercator Software, Micrografx, Microsoft, Netegrity, Netfish, Netscape/AOL, NextPage, NII Enterprise Promotion Association, Nimble Technology, NIST, ObjectSpace, Pick Systems, Pearson Education, Planet 7 Technologies, Popkin Software, ProNet Technology, Reuters, Sabre, SAP, Sequoia Software, SilverStream Software, SoftQuad, Software AG, Sterling Commerce, StreamServe, Sun Microsystems, Tamalpais Group, Thomas Technology Solutions, TIBCO, Virtual Access Networks, Visa, Wavo, webMethods, Whitehill Technologies, Xerox, XML Global, XMLSolutions and XyEnterprise. For more information: Carol Geyer Director of Communications OASIS carol.geyer@oasis-open.org +1 978.667.5115 x209 ###