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Wednesday June 20 2001 Has UDDI Created a Competitive Edge? Not Yet... IBM, Microsoft Corp. and Ariba Inc. launched Universal Description Discovery and Integration (UDDI) directory on May 2, 2001. The UDDI directory can be seen as a Yellow Pages-style business-to-business directory, allowing companies to locate suppliers and business partners, and then to hook up with them via the web. That is the idea at least. Each of the players views the project as a significant step in helping companies experience business efficiencies through Web Services, a new method for automating business processes using the Internet. Yet there is nothing automatic about connecting with any of the 500 or so companies registered in the directory, as you must physically contact them to get the desired software information. Users can reach the directory through the web sites of IBM or Microsoft. The two software giants maintain separate registries that get routinely synchronized so that each contains identical information. E-commerce vendor, Ariba, Inc., was originally slated to publish a third version, but the baton was passed to Hewlett-Packard Co., which expects to churn one out by December 2001. Posting a $48 million net loss in its 2nd fiscal quarter, and with plans to lay-off 1/3 of its workforce, Ariba will now support other areas of the UDDI project. For example, as opposed to maintaining a registry, Ariba will focus on expanding registration and marketing for UDDI. An Idea Hailed as an Achievement The directory, in theory, could be a significant achievement for Web Services. It could also add another link to the chain of marketplace Collaborative Commerce initiatives, also known as c-commerce. With access to the Web Services of partner firms, the UDDI could help in increasing collaboration up and down the supply chain. For example, an automotive supplier could use the e-business directory to locate the types of Web Services offered by one of its automotive clients. Through the UDDI's discovery mechanism, the supplier should be able to hook into those Web Services, and in the process automate some part of its business with the automaker. This scenario describes the original intention of UDDI: the creation of a public directory to facilitate business-to-business e-commerce transactions. Analysts believe that companies with pre-existing business relationships, such as an automaker and its suppliers, will make the most of this service. Using our hypothetical scenario, a private directory would enable an automaker to simultaneously publish the types of business processes that its willing to conduct over the web and with its thousands of suppliers. UDDI also provides services beyond the scope of the business directories that exist on the Internet today. Such directories provide basic contact, product, and industry information, they do not list the descriptions of the Web Services businesses offer, nor the programming interfaces and URLs needed to facilitate business. UDDI's objectives are greater but more akin to the collaborations seen in the travel industry, where airlines, travel agents, and car rental companies share data to produce time and financial savings. Art Holland, CEO of Los Angeles based Sparkly Communications, decided to register because he "liked the idea of a fair-minded, widely-used e-business directory". Although the new media and e-commerce firm has yet to publish a Web Service directory, Holland says that he intends to do so when the project becomes more advanced. Prototype Has Glitches Using UDDI, businesses can find and begin integrating systems with companies that offer Web Services. That is, if the right company and the right contact information were available. If you are lucky enough to find an appropriate contact from the scanty selection registered, you must contact them by telephone or email. Few discovery URLs are posted on UDDI, and getting correct contact information is also more hit-or-miss than value-added. Those searching for c-commerce connections should expect dead ends and roadblocks. For instance, imagine that you wanted to begin a conversation with a supplier of Ford Motor Company and used UDDI to locate Joe Bagadonuts, the supposed e-Business Account Manager of Greenfield Die & Manufacturing. You should certainly question whether or not Mr. Bagadonuts is a real person or a hypothetical name used during site testing, otherwise, you would end up on the other end of a telephone listening to the amused giggles of Greenfield's receptionist. Anxious to build a regional printing services and products site for Southern California, you might happen across San Diego-based PrintCountry. After a short talk with listed UDDI contact, Nurcan Oner, you would learn that she did not know anything about UDDI, but registered "because it is always a good idea to be linked with a good name (Microsoft)". Will the lack of proper vetting procedures impede the progress of UDDI or Web Services? According to Joe Butts, Analyst for Forrester Research, the answer is "No". "UDDI is a reasonably good approach to e-business trading as DNS was for Internet addresses," Butts states. The need for Web Services is growing and its success is not contingent on the success of UDDI. Companies will still need to locate each other to conduct web transactions. Without UDDI, the discovery process might not be as efficient or cost-effective. Still in prototype mode, anticipated benefits of the project will not be realized until 2003-2004, and users must also bear in mind that it is a free service. Future Benefit Outweighs Current Problems Some might think that one of the first stumbling blocks to UDDI is security. It is one thing to collaborate with suppliers to create synergy, but why would a company expose its Web Service to competitors? "Some information may not be appropriate for companies to post," argues David Smith, Analyst for the Gartner Group. "However, business owners should think in terms of strategic business plans and not design issues". In other words, if a number of companies within your industry collaborate and form an electronic marketplace to attract buyers, your market share could diminish if you fail to participate. Some IT users have also voiced security fears. A technical advisor to Transamerica Insurance and Investment Company has recommended against registering with UDDI due to concerns that it could expose Internet systems to extra risk from malicious hackers: "The confidential nature of the financial and insurance transactions could be jeopardized and the safety of client investments, if information were put into the wrong hands". Whilst registering contact details with UDDI is broadly equivalent to registering a site with search engines, uncertainty about the deeper security aspects of UDDI may well have an adverse affect on its adoption, and is therefore something that might well need to be addressed by the UDDI community. While increased business or strategic partnerships may not be an immediate result of UDDI registration, there is one apparent payoff: participants are certain to help shape e-commerce industry standards. For many UDDI registrants, fostering the burgeoning e-commerce community and potential business opportunities therein, prompted them to participate. Rick Toresi, Marketing Communications Manager for ProSight worked early on the open source directory for the former Netscape. Although his portfolio management firm uses web-based technology, he registered "to stay within the curve", hoping that this would associate the San Francisco company with other e-commerce concerns. Beginning with only a few dozen supporters, UDDI is now backed by numerous prominent companies, including Oracle, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, Ford Motor, and Nortel Networks. However, only time will tell if UDDI gains enough support to create the efficiencies and competitive edge it has advertised. If your company is interested in publishing its contact resource in the UDDI directory, you must register with Microsoft or IBM. Companies can provide a brief description of product and services that they offer and can list multiple contact names and information. Registration is open to all business sizes and types spanning diverse industries, and diverse nations. To view the sites, check out: http://uddi.microsoft.com/ and http://www.ibm.com/services/uddi/, Hewlett-Packard's registry is slated to be available by year's end, and all three sites will be linked. Additional information is available at http://www.uddi.org/community.html. Read our Editorial on UDDI 2.0. |