The STAR eXchange

Updated March 17, 2009: Added quote from Karla Norsworthy, VP, IBM.

STAR has joined the recently formed WSTF organization. The WSTF provides a place where various use case scenarios for Web Services implementations can be tested. This is different and goes beyond just specifying the profiles and specifications implemented by the various tooling vendors. This provides real world scenarios and usages that implementers and vendors run into. The flexibility that the various Web Service specifications provides, also provide interoperability concerns as well. Implementation and compliance to the WS-I profiles goes a long way to getting interoperability but stops short of the actual testing.

Since 2003 STAR has supported two main transport methods for its data standards. ebXML and Web Services. STAR has a specific set of specifications that it recommends for implementing its web services profile. However, over the years what we have seen is that the community that has adopted the STAR web service specification has implemented it in slightly different ways. This causes interoperability issues and one off implementations. These one off implementations occur because there is no central place for members to verify their implementations.

STAR plans to work with members of WSTF in helping to provide testable end points for its web services specification. This will not be a certification program, but a voluntary way that an adopter can test their implementation for specific scenarios. To help address some of the interoperability concerns, STAR will be releasing in the coming year a set of profiles that outline the items that MUST be supported. There will be two such profiles:

• STAR Level 1 – the minimum that must be supported. Including support for the WS-I basic profile, and Basic Security Profiles.

• STAR Level 2 – support for more advanced features such as WS-Reliable Messaging, WS-Addressing, MTOM, WS-Security (digital certificates), and other enterprise level features.

“The partnership between STAR Standards and the Web Services Test Forum will enable both communities to expand their roles in the auto industry’s use of web services,” said Karla Norsworthy, Vice President of Industry Standards for IBM. “WSTF delivers a web services testing infrastructure for STAR to leverage and to improve the interoperability of Web Services for use by automotive retailers.”

STAR looks forward to working with existing tooling vendors like IBM, Oracle, and others. This collaboration will help current and future STAR adopters to have interoperable web service implementations. Reducing or eliminating one of the barriers to implementation.