News

OASIS Okays ebXML messaging spec

• By Rich Seeley
• September 12, 2002

The votes are in and the ebXML Messaging Service Specification 2.0 (ebMS 2.0) has won the approval of OASIS members to become the non-profit consortium's newest e-business standard.

The ebMS specification is said to provide for secure e-business transactions, according to OASIS officials. The proposal was part of an e-business initiative jointly undertaken by OASIS and the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT).

The newly approved specification offers improvements over its predecessor 'by simplifying, clarifying and modularizing the functionality for easier implementation,' according Ian Jones, chair of the OASIS ebXML Messaging Services Technical Committee.

Committee members included representatives from IBM, Intel, Sun Microsystems, SAP, GE Global Exchange, Commerce One, Cyclone Commerce, eXcelon, Fujitsu, Mercator, SeeBeyond, Sonic Software, Sterling Commerce, Sybase and webMethods.

To win final approval, the new standard had to be implemented by at least three businesses, undergo a 90-day review and then be approved by a vote of the OASIS membership, according to the consortium's rules.

In addition, Sybase and Sterling Commerce announced that they are incorporating ebMS 2.0 into their e-business products.

Version 2.0 of ebMS is part of an envisioned suite of specifications designed to allow any enterprise anywhere in the world to build e-business applications for the Internet, according to OASIS officials. The newly approved specification joins two previously approved ebXML standards in the suite: ebXML Registry Service (RS) v2 and ebXML Registry Information Model (RIM) v2. Work continues on additional standards for the suite, including ebXML Collaboration Protocol Profile and Agreement (CPPA), which has completed the first level of the OASIS approval process, according to the consortium. UN/CEFACT is also working to develop ebXML specifications for Business Process and Core Components, which when finalized and approved will also be part of the envisioned suite.

For more information on the newly approved specification, click on http://www.oasis-open.org.