Chapter Extension 13

Information Technology for Data Exchange: EDI and XML

© 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Experiencing MIS, David Kroenke

CE13-2 © 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Experiencing MIS, David Kroenke

Study Questions

What technologies are used for data exchange?

How does EDI facilitate data exchange? How does XML facilitate data exchange? How are proprietary distributed applications

used in the supply chain? How are XML Web service applications used

in the supply chain?

CE13-3 © 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Experiencing MIS, David Kroenke

What Technologies Are Used for Data Exchange?

Telephone Fax Postal mail Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) eXtensible Markup Language (XML) XML Web Services for inter-program

communications

CE13-4 © 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Experiencing MIS, David Kroenke

How Does EDI Facilitate Data Exchange?

Electronic Data Interchange– Standard for exchanging documents electronically– Standard of formats for business documents

EDI X12 standard– Standardized documents created by ANSI– Document contains set of segments with defined fields

EDIFACT standard– International standard

HIPAA standard– Medical records standards

CE13-5 © 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Experiencing MIS, David Kroenke

How Does XML Facilitate Data Exchange?

eXtensible Markup Language– Offers advantages over EDI

HTML is problematic

– Developed by W3C– Allows organizations to exchange documents– Significant standards for computer processing– Key part of standards for Web services

CE13-6 © 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Experiencing MIS, David Kroenke

XML and the Supply Chain

XML can improve efficiency of processes and activities

– Documents created in XML– Structure recorded in second document called XML schema– Information sent to suppliers is validated against schema

Saves labor and expense because automated

– May publish schema on Web site Grant access to distributors to validate documents received Automated system saves labor time and money

CE13-7 © 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Experiencing MIS, David Kroenke

Distributed Computing

Process of program on one computer accessing programs on another computer

Techniques– Proprietary applications – Web services

CE13-8 © 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Experiencing MIS, David Kroenke

Proprietary Design

Solution unique to organization Owned by organization that develops and pays for

system Development by teams

– Determine application requirements– Develop design– Write and test programs

Alternative method– Company develops programs – Installs them on another company’s system– Call directly on first company’s applications

CE13-9 © 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Experiencing MIS, David Kroenke

Proprietary Solutions

Difficult to develop– Customers may require special-purpose

programs

Expensive to operate– Return on investment can make it worthwhile

Takes time to develop

CE13-10 © 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Experiencing MIS, David Kroenke

Interorganizational Information Exchange

Information systems that connect organizations Require collaborative agreements

– Requires joint meetings Careful conversations May require nondisclosure statements Agenda of other side unknown Don’t discuss meeting topics in public places

– Clear goals and objectives Agree on topics to be addressed and avoided Don’t raise unrelated topics

CE13-11 © 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Experiencing MIS, David Kroenke

XML Web Services

Web services– Most major software vendors have products to

support– Set of standards that facilitate distributed

computing Uses Internet technology Tool for application interaction

– Allows programs to access each other remotely No need to develop proprietary system

CE13-12 © 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Experiencing MIS, David Kroenke

XML Web Services, continued

Standards enable programs to obtain service description– What programs exist on other computer– How to communicate – Information used to invoke service– Data transmitted in XML documents

XML schemas defined Can be automatically validated

CE13-13 © 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Experiencing MIS, David Kroenke

Web Services and the Supply Chain

Web services can simplify automation of chain interactions

Web services can be published to other organizations

Developers can access the services and write programs to call services

Requires no other meetings or coordinated activities Provides cost savings and time reduction Can be changed and easily adapted

CE13-14 © 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Experiencing MIS, David Kroenke

Active Review

What technologies are used for data exchange?

How does EDI facilitate data exchange? How does XML facilitate data exchange? How are proprietary distributed applications

used in the supply chain? How are XML Web service applications used

in the supply chain?