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.