JDF BASICS -- It's Just the Ticket

"Without a central data store, you have no hope of controlling the process," the analyst says. "The way the system ought to be set up is for data to flow from a central store to a process and back to the data store so there is never a hidden function between data stores."

Ray believes the industry as a whole should take a pause and undertake a serious analysis of what needs to be done. "The messaging format, with central data reporting, should be made the initial goal," he says. "With constraint and simplification, a spec could be written in about 10 to 50 pages that achieves interoperable systems."