Salute to X12, Achieving Critical Mass
Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.
-Vincent Van Gogh
After months of defining and refining the CICA architecture, clarifying design rules, and codifying processes; X12 standards developers have produced the first set of messages - a momentous occasion for this landmark event.
Months from now, the challenge of this work will seem light years away to those using the architecture. The architecture was only the starting point. Business users need business solutions, not architecture; and the library of components that would produce these solutions was totally empty. X12 developers did not assemble existing components; they created them from nothing. And from nothing they produced a wealth of reusable components and their first two messages: a Transportation Status-General Use message for Transportation (X12I) and a Coverage Request message for Insurance (X12N). Their work seeded the X12 directories with a collection of components that are being used to launch the next wave of message development. Reuse of well-designed components is accelerating development making it possible to have the next batch of messages ready by the September trimester meeting in Atlanta. More than 10 new projects are in development across X12 within the Government, Transportation, Finance, and Insurance subcommittees.
While new development is going on, DISA and some supportive software vendors are making their tools available to X12 members to enhance our efforts. The DISA data dictionaries are built, and DISA possesses the capability to publish these new messages as part of the X12 standard. Altova, EDIFECS, GEFEG and Sparx Systems are providing X12 developers with tools that have accelerated our pace to near light speed. These companies are providing their products to X12 developers through the Tools for Members Program to support development of the standard. Their contributions to the success of our work cannot be overstated.
Tools that aid in design and documentation, the first batch of CICA components, and a collection of new business requirements are collectively producing a massive surge in X12 activity, all equating to visible progress in our efforts to produce the next generation of EDI. There has never been a more exciting time to be a part of this standards body than the present.
Regards,
Ralph Berwanger
Chairman, ANSI ASC X12
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