Abstract In this paper, we describe how ebIOP (an ebXML compliant B2B interoperability platform) manages the business lifecycle by providing an example scenario. ebIOP provides a common storage for ebIOP components (ebXML applications). ebIOP defines an ebIOP component to be a software implementation of one or more ebXML specifications which is a solution of an e‐commerce pattern (description of an e‐commerce problem). ebIOP contains a server that listens to a port over the TCP/IP protocol for client requests and provides one or more ebIOP components to interact with the partners of the company. We show how ebIOP could be used to handle the business lifecycle with application of the ebIOP to the RosettaNet partner interface processes (PIPs). In the example, a part of the RosettaNet PIPs are registered to an ebXML registry using the ebIOP Registry Client Component, parties that support RosettaNet PIPs register/update their profiles in the ebXML registry. A party prepares an ebXML business process by combining some of the RosettaNet PIPs in a logical order and searches for possible trading partners using the ebIOP Registry Client Component. After locating the trading partners, all partners prepare agreements among themselves and they execute the business process using the ebIOP B2BServer Component. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Today's Internet based businesses need a level of interoperability which will allow trading partners to seamlessly and dynamically come together and do business without ad hoc and proprietary integrations. Such a level of interoperability involves being able to find potential business partners, discovering their services and business processes, and conducting business "on the fly". This process of dynamic interoperation is only possible through standard B2B frameworks. Indeed a number of B2B electronic commerce standard frameworks have emerged recently. Although most of these standards are overlapping and competing, each with its own strenghts and weeknesses, a closer investigation reveals that they can be used in a manner to complement one another.In this paper we describe such an implementation where an ebXML infrastructure is developed by exploiting the Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) registries and RosettaNet Partner Interface Processes (PIPs). ebXML is an ambitious effort and produced detailed specifications of an infrastructure both for B2B and B2C e-commerce. However a public ebXML compliant registry/repository mechanism is not available yet. On the other hand, UDDI's approach to developing a registry has been a lot simpler and public registries are available. In ebXML, trading parties collaborate by agreeing on the same business process with complementary roles. Therefore there is a need for standardized business processes. In this respect, exploiting the already developed expertise through RosettaNet PIPs becomes indispensable. We show how to create and use ebXML "Binary Collaborations" based on RosettaNet PIPs and provide a GUI tool to allow users to graphically build their ebXML business processes by combining RosettaNet PIPs. In ebXML, trading parties reveal essential information about themselves through Collaboration Protocol Profiles (CPPs). To conduct business, an agreement between parties is necessary and this is expressed

MARIFlow System [1] provides for automating and monitoring the flow of control and data over the Internet among different organizations, thereby creating a platform necessary to describe higher order processes involving several organizations and companies. The architecture is general enough to be applied to any business practice where data flow among different industries and cooperations and the invocation of activities follow a pattern that can be described through a process definition. The example application provided within the scope of this project is on maritime industry A MARIFlow process is executed through cooperating agents, called MARCAs (MARIFlow Cooperating Agents) that are automatically initialized at each site that the process executes. MARCAs handle the activities at their site, provide for coordination with other MARCAs in the system by routing the documents in electronic form according to the process description, keeping track of process information, and providing for the security and authentication of documents as well as comprehensive monitoring facilities. More specifically, the functionality provided by the system is as follows: ¯ A declarative means to specify the control of document flow over the Internet where it is possible to define the source of data, its control flow and the activities that make use of this data. ¯ A fully distributed execution architecture achieved through cooperating agents over the Internet. The agents know about other agents that they need to communicate with and preserve their state during communication. They also manage local information for monitoring purposes and for recovering from failures. ¯ Communicating with inside firewall applications. A MARCA can activate in-house activities automati-