At the recent HR-XML Partnering and Integration Summit I was asked about the timing for the release of HR-XML 4.0. To clarify, version 4.0 would be the "next, next-generation" of HR interoperability standards. Version 3.0 is just about to make its debut as a candidate release. My answer was that implementers do not yet have a good reason to even pencil-in a version 4.0 release within their product pipelines nor was it yet time for implementers to be planning for specific design changes beyond those communicated within version 3.0.

While I'm not sure it was exactly understood, my follow-up comment was that while 4.0 simply isn't a matter for any individual implementer to focus on today, that it was absolutely imperative for the Consortium -- as an independent, vendor-neutral organization representing the collective interests of standards stakeholders -- to be sketching out, planning, and communicating a maturity model beyond version 3.0. My basic point is that there are requirements for ensuring the continued availability of quality business language standards for HR services that will go beyond short-term interests of individual companies -- particularly those that have already invested in a current generation of specifications.

For some, the point I'm making in the last paragraph is simply common sense. You might say the decisions to be made regarding a maturity model for standards are similar to those faced by a product manager of a maturing, but still profitable product offering. A classic product management challenge is how to advance a new product offering, without spooking an installed base. As a matter of fact, you might say the standards planning problem is identical to the product planning problem, other than the fact that the standards planning takes place within a committee-run, volunteer-driven organization rather than in a corporate setting. But then again, perhaps I shouldn't underestimate the committee battles a product manager faces even within a single company.

In the next several posts, I'm going to try to share some of the insights and lessons learned in my 9 years of work with the HR-XML Consortium. What I hope readers will come a way with is confidence in some new approaches for developing and maintaining business languages standards for HR services.

See Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.