XML and EDI

[mbdw6708]

Has anyone been involved with connecting an EDI system with an e-commerce system using XML.&nbsp;&nbsp;All the reading I have done says XML is the thing that will greatly accelerated e-commerce, let me know&nbsp;&nbsp;your thoughts on this.<br>

 

[mxs]

Interesting no one else has posted a response to you and I wanted an answer to the same question.<br><br>I'm staying with EDI X12 4010 as my solution of choice since our existing &quot;supply chain partners&quot; use EDI and it took industry groups 5-7 years to arrive at workable standards.<br><br>Hence,&nbsp;&nbsp;I wish to web enable my working infrastructure (call it legacy if you will) so basically I need an XML parser/converter that&nbsp;&nbsp;creates EDI purchase orders (Transaction Set 850) after confirming customer orders to an Internet browser in real time based on inventory and authorization from&nbsp;&nbsp;our Btrieve 6.15 based financial software.<br><br>I've heard of products from XMLSolutions, DataJunction (XMLJunction), and Centura Software (CTD2000).<br><br>As a vendor, do you have a solution in mind?

 

[linyo]

There is also Sterling Commerce's GENTRAN:Server for NT (also for UNIX, I believe) with XML extensions. I have built a couple XML maps for NT. They were going to be used on an SAP system, so the IDOC labels were used as the XML tags. Lin

 

[mbdw6708]

Does anyone know how these systems are currently working. Research XML systems right now and can get lots of press releases but want to know how they are working and how XML standards are being welcomed into the industry. As mxs said it took quite sometime for the standards to come with EDI so how will this effect XML. Talk to two people tonight who work for XML integrating companies. They didn't give me much information.

One of them is supposedly going to post some information either on this discussion group or on the discussion group at

http://www.supplychaintoday.com.

Any other ideas or advice out there.
Dave Waters

http://www.supplychaintoday.com/

 

[edisavvy]

Good question--there are so many flavors of XML right now. I know DISA (Data Interchange Standards Association)is working to get XML standardized--don't know if there is a target date though.

Linda

 

[mbdw6708]

Does anyone have experience with an integration provider such as webMethods. I am researching integration providers and want to do a business analysis on the top three providers. Any feed back would be helpful
Dave Waters

http://www.supplychaintoday.com

 

[marykay]

mbdw6708,

in reply to your 11/1/2000 post about system integrators . . .

I know a little about WebMethods, they have a solutions for integrating ERP-to-ERP. (i.e. customer and vendor systems talking directly.)

Other companies in this area include:

IPNet Solutions: specialize in integrating trading partners using any data format. Integrate all trading partners (from web-forms based to EDI).

Cyclone: A solution that is aimed at providing EDI over the Internet.

In the interest of full disclosure . . . I work for IPNet . . but, I tried to give you a brief overview of the competition in the Transaction Management arena. You could probably dig into websites and talk to salespeople to get more info.

 

[mbdw6708]

I am a B2B analyst and working on various e-business projects. The first project I am doing and need to get done ASAP is researching the overlap when a company participates in a its own private B2B marketplace and a public marketplace. I am not able to find much information out there on this particular topic.

Another project includes integrating our current back end systems with a new technology platform (Ariba or Oracle).
I am researching webMethods, CycloneCommerce and a few other companies. In a week or two I will be bringing vendors to give presentations.

My last project concerns content management providers and who is the best out there. Any type of discussion on the above topics would be greatly appreciated.
Davy.Waters@asu.edu

http://www.supplychaintoday.com

 

[Guest_imported]

I realize I previsouly posted with a rec for Clearbridge, and at the risk of being a walking add for these guys, anyone wanting to interface with partners across either XML or EDI systems, may want to check them out:

http://www.clearbridge.net

 

[rajn]

Iam a cofounder of Company Netprise.com and over the last one year we have spent enough time researching Enterprise Application Integration and Business to business Integration trends and as a result are bringing best of breed products that are EJB COmplaint and are openstandards based. visit

http://www.netprise.com

Here is my take on the above discussion.

1. EDI is there and will be present for the coming years before the companies start to utilize the benefits of internet and xml
2. Companies need a smooth transition mechanism to move from EDI to XMl ( There are tons of xml variants )

3. Concentrate on Intra enterprise applicaiton integration during this course of migration

4. Focus on Inter enterprise application integration or pluggability to netmarket places

5. Underlying connection architecture what is it ? JCA Java connection architecture is the way to go. Making the prepackaged applications built on some standard dtd's such as OAGIS compatible across varied ERP Systems (SAP, BAAN, JDE , PEOPLESOFT ETC..)

6. Support of JMS based messaginig over Application servers (Websphere, pramati, jboss, weblogic )..

If one sees the trends the B2B and A2A integration (Involving EDI as well) is carried on over application servers , JCA, JMS and infact there is thin line of difference or these two (b2b, A2A) converge at a point ..

IT managers should carefully choose a product that best suits their needs, budget, and is compliant with the industry norms, and of course can adapt to rapid changes in industry trends.

Please feel free to call me to discuss further
Raj Nukala
(610) 564 8150

 

[sube]

Most of the companys don't use XML to exchange the data. They prefer to use .DOC/.XLS/email, etc.,

i think the important is the opinion that users hold. A sophisticated system you developed, but you can't persuade others to use it, it's a failure.

 

[GEFEG]

Look at some of the Biztalk stories

http://www.microsoft.com/biztalk.

Regards,
David Frenkel
Business Development
GEFEG USA
Global Leader in Ecommerce Tools

http://www.gefeg.com

425-260-5030

 

[BPCSuser]

Have a look at

http://www.ecs-europe.com

where they manage to support the AS/400 Business application integration for EDI, XML, Flat File, spool file and SMS Text messaging.

 

[BRADENSTOKE]

Before you delve into the muddy waters of XML and try to re-invent the wheel, look at Odette and OFTP, this is the industry standard and has been around for years, it is not going to go away..
It is robust and proven.
Many vendors supply translation software and it is also very easy to decode.
Odette using OFTP is error proof. XML via internet is not.
All MRP systems I have experience of assume EDI with OFTP.

 

[GEFEG]

There have been surveys of XML vs EDI as a medium of transactioning business transactions and XML is currently around 10% but growing. At a local EC user group meeting last week 3M mentioned they are doing XML invoices and PO's with a number of trading partners. Microsoft uses Biztalk to communicate business transactions in XML. We are involved with Open Application Group (OAG) XML initiative which has support from a number of organziations and vendors. X12 is actively developing XML standards as well. There are other industry examples but I think as a lot of articles have pointed out XML and EDI will run in parallel for some time and they both have their place. Happy New Year.