Santa Barbara’s Softshare Forges Ahead in the XML Revolution

by Russ Spencer

On Feb. 10, 1998, a new language was unleashed into the world, a computer language called XML. It is a brother to the HTML language that has been one of the basic building blocks of the worldwide web. But its simplicity and flexibility is making it a great new option for many uses above and beyond the web, from portable handheld computers to business-to-business document exchange.

Companies from the largest — Microsoft — to some of the smallest — Santa Barbara’s own Softshare — are adopting XML as their language of choice for new software. Where Java and HTML and ecommerce languages like EDI have been stalwarts of the electronic revolution, XML (which stands for Extensible Markup Language) may be responsible for taking it to the next step. Just as English is taking over the spoken world, XML may soon take over the computer world.

The language was created by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). It is not a property of any one company, but a public format by which many different companies and platforms can talk to each other. That’s the core beauty of it—it is so simple and flexible, it can transfer data between many different kinds of machines, and also between many different kinds of software. And in the end, that’s the basis of everything electronic — exchanging data, turning data into other kinds of data, and expressing data as graphics.

To understand XML, it’s useful to know that it is a form of SGML, which is a kind of ‘mother tongue,’ used for describing thousands of different document types in many fields of human activity, from transcriptions of ancient Irish manuscripts to the technical documentation for stealth bombers, and from patients’ clinical records to musical notation.

The well-known web language HTML is just one of these document types. XML is another type of SGML offshoot. It omits the more complex and less-used parts of SGML in return for the benefits of being easier to write applications for, easier to understand, and more suited to delivery and interoperability over the Web.

It may also prove to be the info exchange language of choice for the amazing new cadre of wireless devices. It is estimated that almost 300 million wireless devices are already in use, and that there will be almost 300 million more in three years. Most of these are cellular phones, but the numbers include other devices like PDAs and pagers. XML it makes it easy for these little devices accept and understand information from many different sources, and express that info in digital pictures, sound, and text.

Beginning in 1999, XML also gained favor as the way to exchange business data cheaply, and that is where XML is making its biggest stand. Until now, almost all business-to-business transactions had been made with a language known as Electronic Data Interchange, or EDI. There were two standards for use of EDI, one established by the American National Standards Institute, which was used in North America, and one established by the United Nations for the rest of the world.

The EDI system had originally been developed by the big three U.S. automotive companies in the early ‘70s, who wanted to optimize their supply chain. They developed EDI so that they could electronically order parts like steering wheels, tires, and radios as they needed them. They wanted to have a more seamless and smooth ordering and invoicing system than could be possible with fax or phone, or mail. This was long before the internet and email, but they would send the EDI information over protected modem lines called Value Added Networks.

The system caught on, and today virtually every Fortune 1000 company uses EDI with their suppliers, and some mandate it. Wal Mart forces its suppliers, even if they only provide pencil erasers, to use EDI.

Problem is, now XML is making EDI obsolete. XML is more versatile and easier to use, and is compatible under one standard worldwide. About 80,000 companies use EDI right now, but experts say that represents only three percent of the companies who could benefit from electronic ordering. XML will make the difference they say, in part because it can be sent over the internet, not requiring special modem lines. But as the changeover takes place, companies are going to need software that can translate from EDI to XML, and vice versa. And that’s where Santa Barbara’s Softshare comes in.

Softshare was born about the same time, coincidentally, as EDI. Softshare’s parent company was called Minicars Inc. During the energy crisis, they received government contracts to develop cars with high gas mileage. Softshare was developed to help with data processing, and became so successful that it started creating software for sale. Now owned by Frank Gott, it is still a privately-held company with just 40 employees. The company works from breezy second floor offices in downtown Santa Barbara, where employees bring their dogs to work and nearly everyone has a private balcony with city and ocean views.

It is one of six companies in the United States that develops EDI software, and now, software for business-to-business XML users as well. Among those six, Softshare is decidedly among the smallest. The field boasts such powerhouse companies as Sterling Commerce and Harbinger. But with their new Softshare Delta product, they are the first company to hit the market with a software that will translate back and forth between EDI and XML.

Life will get much more interesting for Softshare in the next six months, though. With the advent of XML, their market has become so lucrative, that Microsoft has come up with its own business XML program. Called Biztalk 2000, it is out in alpha now and will be released to the market in the November or December.

For the first time in its history, Microsoft will be entering a field already packed with powerful competitors. “Will Microsoft dominate the market?” asks Colette Williams, Softshare’s vice president of operations. “No one knows, but the dynamic makes it very interesting.”

Softshare technical writer Diane Springhuth says the company is confident Microsoft will help popularize XML business uses without taking away Softshare customers. “We are comfortable in our niche,” she says. “We are very well known for our excellent service. We cater to small and medium sized companies who are being dragged into using EDI, and they are always very impressed by our customer support and how we walk them through everything. We have something that our bigger competitors could never compete with.”

Clearly Softshare will ride the XML wave like everyone else, and with Softshare Delta, is already ahead of the curve. For them, like everyone else in the often confusing world of high tech gadgetry, it’s a way to help insure everyone is speaking the same language.

Russ Spencer is a staff writer for Silicon 2.0.