David Chappell

  • September 2020
  • November 2017
  • April 2017
  • October 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • August 2015
  • April 2015
  • December 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • March 2006
  • February 2006
  • January 2006
  • December 2005
  • November 2005
  • October 2005
  • September 2005
  • August 2005
  • July 2005
  • June 2005
  • May 2005
  • April 2005
  • March 2005
  • February 2005
  • January 2005
  • December 2004
  • November 2004
  • October 2004
  • September 2004
  • August 2004
  • July 2004
  • June 2004
  • May 2004
  • April 2004
  • March 2004
  • February 2004
  • January 2004
  • December 2003

Opinari

Get the Feed! Subscribe

Standards vs. Vendor Self-Interest: The Case of BPEL  
# Monday, April 26, 2004
 
An employee of a large software company recently told me that since customers want portability of business processes, his firm would be obligated to provide full support for standard BPEL. His unspoken assumption was that this was somehow a moral issue, that supporting standards was the right thing to do for its own sake.

In reality, his firm is a publicly-owned American corporation, like many of the important vendors involved in BPEL. This means that the people who run it are legally obligated to maximize the firm’s profits within the boundaries of ethics and prudence. An inescapable corollary of this fact is that the stance his firm takes on BPEL should depend entirely on what approach they think will best promote this goal. IBM and BEA, for example, appear to be embracing a Java-oriented view, as expressed in their joint whitepaper on BPELJ. The goal, presumably, is to hurt their common opponent Microsoft, hoping to lock BPEL-defined business processes into the Java world. Microsoft, of course, has its own perspective on BPEL, while other firms, such as Collaxa, hold various other views.

There’s been plenty of fulmination about vendor maneuvering around BPEL. Much of it seems rooted in the same kind of innocence that prompted my interlocutor’s recent observation about his firm’s alleged obligations. The truth is that vendors will do what they think is most likely to maximize their profits, whether that means sticking religiously to the BPEL standard, proposing extensions-with-an-agenda such as BPELJ, or ignoring it completely. None of these things is morally wrong—they’re just business decisions.

Rather than getting emotional, anyone seeking to have an impact on the discussion would be much better off thinking about what’s in each vendor’s interest, then perhaps trying to educate the BPEL decision makers at key vendors so their views more closely match your own. Unless you believe free-market capitalism is wrong (in which case you’re unlikely to have much impact on the debate), stop expecting vendors do things with BPEL that aren’t in their own interest.



0 comments :: Post a Comment

 


Comments:

Post a Comment


<< Home