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Chapter 1. XML overview 5
1.3 XML business benefits
The benefits of a common base upon which the technical world can build layers
upon layers of technical innovation are enormous. This will only be possible if this
standard has been agreed to by all.
XML has three main applications:
Sharing of information:
The main problem integrating data between any two
business organizations is the interface between them. If they can at least agree
upon the standard of their common meeting point and its usage, they can build
upon this to start building their applications. If there is already an existing
interface or infrastructure provided by industry or government standard or
infrastructure, the business cost of developing it is extinguished.
Storage, transmission and interpretation of data: If the storage of information
is adaptable to many mediums, its cost will be driven to the lowest cost of all
mediums. XML is based on text, which obviously is accepted by all. It can be
read. Its storage is cheap, compared to the storage requirements of graphics.
And because the size of this text based object is small, its transmission, not
withstanding cost, is cheap as well. And because it is commonly accepted, since
it adheres to world wide standards, it can be easily interpreted.
Security: With the explosion of confidential information being transmitted across
the Internet, there is now a need for sophisticated levels of security. Companies
need to protect their documents and e-mail, banks need to allow their depositors
to download their accounts and merchants need to be available their customers
to enter their credit card details without compromising their security and privacy.
The more secure the transmission medium, the more confidentiality it provides,
the more it can be used to advertise a competitive advantage. With the evolution
of XML digital signatures, the ability to protect or hide parts of a document, while
sitting on a PC, server or mainframe, now covers up a security patch.
Speed and amount of content delivery: With the rapid evolution of network
technologies, speed and delivery of any object has gained importance. Network
companies now advertise download times of movies and CDs. Again, the first
companies discovering the abilities of delivering something at an increasing
speed without compromising their content will gain the competitive advantage.
1.3.1 Information sharing
XML has been readily accepted by the technical world because of its simplicity.
The benefits of having a common format to share information between any two
organization are obvious. Technologies and standards have been built upon
XML. Consortiums and business organizations have developed industry wide