cisdal

ebMS (ebXML Message Service) 2.0 is a specification that defines how ebXML Messages are transmitted over a network between Trading Partners in order to conduct B2B transactions. The ebMS specification defines a set of extensions to SOAP to provide the following quality-of-service features:

• Guaranteed delivery of messages over a non-reliable protocol (e.g. HTTP). This includes the ability to retry failed messages.
• Security of information sent between Trading Partners
• Non-repudiation of messages, ensuring a Trading Partner can prove who they have received a message from.
• Automatic removal of duplicate messages
• Guaranteed ordering of messages
• The ability to send payloads of any type between Trading Partners

In order for two Trading Partners to interact via ebMS, both parties need an ebMS 2.0 compliant gateway. An agreement called a Collaboration Protocol Agreement (CPA) will be defined to describe the relationship between two parties.

Because ebMS is simply an extension to SOAP/Web Services, it can operate over multiple communication protocols (HTTP, FTP, SMTP), and can operate directly over the Internet.

An ebXML message is an XML message adhering to the envelope structure defined in the ebXML specification. The ebXML message, along with any attached business documents, is the information passed between two Trading Partners. The ebXML message contains all the information required for the receiving party to implement the quality-of-service features specified in the CPA agreement.

The Cisdal Message Gateway is an extension to an existing ebMS Gateway called Hermes 2.0. This gateway implements the full ebMS 2.0 specification. Cisdal have conducted testing against several leading ebMS servers to prove this compliance.

For more information on ebMS and ebXML, please see http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/ebxml-msg/documents/ebMS_v2_0.pdf