Future EDI: Suitability to Task Matrix

Introduction

The following sets of matrices shows a comparison between XML/EDI and competing approaches, oo-EDI and BSI, along with traditional EDI by way of comparison.

Three key aspects are compared:

• Business Requirements
• Technology Engineering
• Adaptability and Longevity

Elements of these factors are drawn from the requirements laid down in the X12 "Future Vision" document from 1993/4 and emerging Electronic Commerce requirements, along with standards and general practice for "Open Systems" engineering. The commercial business requirements are taken from a consensus of various documents available from industry bodies engaged in the EDI arena.

Business Factors

These capabilities can be summarized as the following "Business Top Ten" list of requirements for EDI technology:

1. Reduces cost of doing business
2. Reduces cost of entry into EDI
3. Easy to use
4. Improves data integrity and accessibility
5. Provides appropriate security and control
6. Extendable and Controllable
7. Integrates with Today’s systems
8. Utilizes Open Standards
9. Provides successor to X12/EDIFACT
10. Globally deployable today

Business Factors Matrix

Scores:

Technology Engineering

These next factors compare specific technology capabilities and requirements that EDI must provide to enable the business functions demanded by an Electronic Enterprise.

(Key: 0 = No Capability, 5 = Average, 10 = Excellent).

A = Electronic Commerce

B = "Interactive" or "Real Time" EDI

C = Batch EDI

D = Special EDI such as EFT or Medical Imagery

E = Ease of Mapping

F = Ease of Deployment

G = Ease of Linking Trading Partners

H = Creating truly dynamic Distributed Systems

J = Catalogues/Textual Content/Searching

K = Mixed content, binary, multimedia, and documents.

L = "Push" content technology, and workflow.

M = 100% backward compatible with X12/EDIFACT/HL7.

Technology Engineering Matrix

Scores:

Adaptability and Longevity

Software engineering has taught us basic principles and attributes required to ensure that a software method can adapt to and assimilate new technologies and components into the future. One of the keys for this is to be extensible, so new methods can be incorporated into the existing frameworks. The two main issues here are:

• How well does the new method fit with today's standards and technologies, and how accessible is it to all users?
• How easily will this architecture adapt to future needs and standards over the next twenty years?

Other issues include just how easily the new technology can be assimilated by people outside of the EDI knowledge domain. Do you need special training or software to use this, or does it fit right in with your existing tools? The following factors examine these criteria:

A = Matching today's software standards

B = Accessibility to all software engineers

C = Ability to add new components

D = Ability to exchange one component for a newer different future one

(example switch use of Java for "Rumbo" a yet to be invented language)

E = Ease of understanding and training in its use

F = Integrates directly with your existing software

G = Deployable via current bandwidths and networks

H = Future extendibility

J = Support for International Languages and Standards

K = Ease of Maintenance, and Change distribution

Scores:

Concluding Remarks

The world has changed from thirty years ago, and now requires a dynamic and vibrant tool that matches the organized yet ad hoc nature presented by both modern business practice and its manifestations in the Internet itself. The Internet is re-writing the rules on how people interact, buy and sell, and exchange goods and services.

A method is needed that is designed to deliver the facilitating tools for the organized ad hoc business of the real world. For example, with the use of such methods programmers can pre-construct database templates, application menus and electronic forms that end users can simply download and start using at their locations. Combining all these pieces therefore delivers distributed processing of an unprecedented quality and provides the underpinning for the Electronic Enterprise and it's significant business competitive advantages.

There is no doubt that delivering on this promise is now the challenge that confronts implementers of electronic commerce technologies.

Copyright ©, XML/EDI Group, October, 1997. All rights reserved, no part of this document may be commercially reproduced in part or in whole without consent and prior approval.

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