- From: Dick Brooks <dick@8760.com>
- Date: Sat, 16 Dec 2000 12:21:43 -0600
- To: "christopher ferris" <chris.ferris@east.sun.com>, <ebxml-transport@lists.ebxml.org>, "XP-PUBLIC" <xml-dist-app@w3.org>, "Dick Brooks" <dick@8760.com>
- Cc: <dale.kutnick@metagroup.com>, <howard.rubin@metagroup.com>, <Will.Zachman@metagroup.com>, <Aaron.Zornes@metagroup.com>, <larry.deboever@metagroup.com>
An e-mail was recently sent to the ebXML transport and packaging group list server that referenced an article written by Mary Jo Foley, of ZDNet News and released on 12/12/2000. The article contained quotes from Meta Groups Will Zachman, which I believe deserve a response. Regarding Will Zacman's comments in, http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/zd/20001212/tc/microsoft_sun_in_new_clash_1.htm l which reads: "I think they (Microsoft) will have real traction with this product," said Meta Group vice president Will Zachman. "Microsoft's story on this (XML) front is much more coherent than any other companies have to offer. ...The only real alternative to BizTalk is, ebXML and it's lame. It's just Sun and a bunch of bureaucrats backing it. One has to wonder what Mr. Zachman means by referring to ebXML as lame. It would be beneficial to those of us designing/developing/implementing ebXML to know precisely what areas of ebXML are "lame" in his opinion. He seems to have some insight into ebXML that is NOT shared by other industry analysts, ref: recent notes from AMR and Gartner Group regarding ebXML (cited below). The term "lame" never appears in either Gartner Group nor AMR reports, however there are some facts which Gartner Group and AMR found in their research that Mr. Zachman either overlooked or was unaware of. FACT: ebXML's proof of concept this week in San Francisco involved the following vendors: Cisco, Fujistu, IBM, Interwoven, IPNet, Netfish Technologies, NTT Communications, Savvion, Sterling Commerce, Sun Microsystems, TIE, Viquity, and XMLSolutions. Editorial Comment: Note the broad industry support. This is hardly what I consider "a bunch of bureaucrats". FACT: In September of this year, members of the Global Commerce Initiative (GCI), representing 40 major manufacturers and eight trade associations, or 850,000 companies worldwide, announced intent to use ebXML as the backbone for their new data exchange standard for B2B trade in the Consumer Goods industry. Editorial: Apparently the GCI consortium doesn't think ebXML is lame. FACT: Gartner Group's Healthcare division released a tactical guideline on 12/12/2000 that encourages companies to REQUIRE vendors to support EDIINT and ebXML in their RFP's ref: 1. Requirements for Completing the Digital Dial Tone, Technology, T-12-6803, W. Rishel, Research Note, 12 December 2000 2. Solutions to Complete the Digital Dial Tone, Tactical Guidelines, TG-12-6804, W. Rishel, Research Note, 12 December 2000 FACT: AMR issued a research note with very positive overtones regarding ebXML's progress, ref: EBXML: THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING http://www.amrresearch.com/ets/alerts/001213etsstory5.asp OBSERVATION: Mr. Zachman's "emotional" assessment of ebXML, calling it "lame", has had a pejorative affect on my opinion of Meta Group. I encourage Mr. Zachman/Meta Group to provide the ebXML TR&P group with a list of technical issues which cause him/Meta Group to hold this opinion. Sincerely, Dick Brooks (ebXML TR&P workgroup participant and ebXML's Liaison to W3C XML Protocol Activity) Group 8760 110 12th Street North Birmingham, AL 35203 dick@8760.com 205-250-8053 Fax: 205-250-8057 http://www.8760.com/ InsideAgent - Empowering e-commerce solutions
Received on Saturday, 16 December 2000 13:26:45 UTC