XML: the ultimate litmus test for Microsoft — and the web
Mass High Tech, Sept. 10-16, 2001. Reproduced with permission
by W. David
Stephenson
We will soon get a litmus test of whether Microsoft has really reformed, and an indication of whether the Web will realize its inventor’s dream of being “a common information space in which we communicate by sharing information,”by following the development of XML.
As a quick reminder, XML (or eXtensible Markup Language) is an open standard to present spread sheets, pricing information, and other structured data in text documents. As Bill Gates recently wrote, presenting data within XML tags means “the data itself is ‘unlocked’ so that it can be easily organized, programmed, edited and exchanged between any Web sites, applications and devices. XML is a lingua franca for the Internet age.”
Unlike the arcane HTML “tags” and “attributes” to format Web pages, most XML tags and attributes, such as
XML is refined enough now (”W3C tells world that XML is ready,” MHT, May 14th) to begin playing a major role in how we acquire and process data. For example, Microsoft and Ford’s pilot program, Cobra, links Ford to suppliers, some of which are small and have limited technology. The suppliers just link to Ford via the Internet and the Office XP versions of Outlook and Excel. Previously, this exchange would have required a multi-million-dollar
dedicated Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system.
Microsoft has announced that it is basically betting its future on its .NET
initiative, built on XML. Microsoft’s history indicates that it can’t leave open-standards alone, inevitably trying to give them a proprietary twist that drives a wedge between the open standard and the Microsoft version.
If.NET is fully interoperable with other vendors’ XML offerings, Microsoft may have learned its lesson Even more indicative of a change of heart will be if .NET observes the spirit of open standards as well — open standards can’t just work for everyone when in final form, but also must be developed openly as well, with public scrutiny and ability to affect them.
I’m not holding my breath.
Equally important to the future of the Web is what XML’s deployment will tell us about whether a wide range of companies and entire industries also “get it” about how the Web changes strategic thinking from win/lose to win-win.
Since Samuel Slater memorized English mills’ plans and replicated them in Pawtucket, individuals and companies have prospered from jealously-guarded proprietary information. It is hard to rise above these ingrained habits and instead pursue an open, sharing strategy in the hope that what will benefit another company –even a competitor – will benefit you as well.
The issue to watch about this aspect of XML is one of its key properties: extensibility. Extensible means that XML can be used to define specific vocabularies and metadata. Can a wide range of companies, industry groups, and individuals, operating with few guidelines, create a delicate balance of adding enough specificity to XML vocabularies that they are useful, while resisting the temptation to make the vocabularies so specific that they only are relevant to a few companies and the vocabularies so extensive that XML’s utility is compromised?
The answer requires new rigor in how each of us thinks, along with a new emphasis on collaborative planning:
- Start thinking what data in your operations might have value elsewhere – and how would you “tag” them in real-world vocabulary.
- Do process mapping of your daily operations and manufacturing. Where do you collect or create useful data? Where might it be re-routed, through XML, both within your enterprise and outside, to create value?
- Put yourself in your trading partners’ and customers’ places. The kind of data you routinely collect for your own needs might, if shared, help them to work more closely with you, reducing time-to-market and inventory, and increasing customer satisfaction.
- Conversely, learn more about your suppliers’ operations. Ask what data they collect that might help you increase efficiency.
- Resist the temptation to create XML vocabularies that are too specific. XML will be most effective if it remains in that hazy middle ground where it is of greatest use to the greatest number, complemented by other, more specialized tools to handle the nitty-gritty.
- Start to think in terms of synergies between your company and others create new products and services by using XML’s ability to link
XML is not a panacea. It will require much refinement and has some inherent limits. However, XML’s ability to let data flow seamlessly among various partners, and the opportunity it creates for people and companies to work collaboratively to create mutually-beneficial uses, should make inserting it at the heart of your strategy and technology a top priority for every company, especially in hard economic times.
