XML Is Ushering in a New Era of Creativity and Accountability for IT Professionals

Computerworld - More than any previous technology, XML lets IT professionals tie their efforts to business results. Because XML is a self-descriptive protocol, IT professionals can use it to encapsulate, share, reuse, repurpose and connect business processes in ways not possible with traditional programmed applications. Many companies are already implementing high-return-on-investment XML initiatives such as linking diverse internal systems, connecting distribution channels and exploiting new Internet-based business opportunities.
As they gain greater understanding of XML metadata, IT professionals will also be able to monitor, fine-tune and maximize XML's effect on daily business, including revenue, the customer experience and payback from digitized business processes. Business professionals can even collaborate in this effort.
As promising as it is, however, XML is no silver bullet. Just as with earlier technology breakthroughs, companies need to assess the practicality of XML initiatives given XML's maturity level -- and put in place a program that ensures success.
One impediment to ROI is XML interoperability. XML standards don't guarantee interoperability. In fact, proliferating XML standards initiatives are introducing a new layer of heterogeneity into applications infrastructures.
For example, the lack of a single, broadly accepted security standard could inadvertently cause an interoperability problem in an XML Web service, by creating design conflict between two schemas.
Consider a developer using the ACORD and WS-Security schemas to create a secure insurance service. This developer could run into problems if this service were later combined with another service based on a schema called XML Signature. One part of the service would be expecting to use both digital signatures and encryption and the other only digital signatures. Some service developers may even add their own extensions to schemas in order to get them to perform exactly as desired. This solves the immediate design problem but can cause interoperability problems later. The problem could multiply as the service gets deployed in different partner sites, insurance exchanges and other customer-touching endpoints.
The interoperability "hot spot" is XML messages, the method by which XML services interact. A simple XML message might contain three to five namespaces from three to five different standards. (A namespace is a "snapshot" of an XML standard at a single point in time and in a unique context.) Developers may use competing standards, different versions and different styling choices, which further complicate the message. The resulting message may be technically well-formed, but that doesn't automatically mean it can work with other well-formed XML messages -- or that it will behave as expected. In addition, messages run on different platforms, such as .Net