Document management for collaborative e-business: Integrating ebXML environment and legacy DMS

It is widely known that e-business capabilities are a key requirement for a large number of modem enterprises. New 13213 technologies can enable companies all around the world to collaborate in more effective and efficient ways, better satisfying the needs of their customers. The ebXML specifications are the standard solution to achieve this kind of interoperability, but they are not as widespread as traditional legacy systems yet. Enterprises typically store their knowledge inside Document Management Systems (DMS), which come in different technologies and handle system-specific metadata models. In this paper, we propose an architecture that enables enterprises to take advantage of the power and flexibility of the ebXML approach to metadata management; this is achieved without affecting in-place working systems, and with no need for a complete repository reconstruction.