ALTHOUGH Extensible Markup Language (XML) is on the lips and in the marketing materials of almost any vendor whose products touch corporate data, the XML '99 show in Philadelphia this week proved there is still much work to be done.

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The reasons offered for the disconnect between XML's perceived value and the reality that users are still struggling to understand how it should be implemented were numerous, but the main stumbling block seems to be a lack of vendors offering real-world XML solutions.

"My estimation is the major breakthrough needed is to get critical mass of vendors to focus their attention on XML and allow us to move forward with turnkey projects," said Chris Wolff, vice president of publishing technologies at the West Group, an information provider for legal professionals, in Egan, Minn.

That critical mass, noted Wolff, needs to start with the development of more robust tools for XML development. Many tools vendors, however, do not seem to feel the urgency to jump on the XML bandwagon.

"We're moving to XML as fast as possible, but no faster," said Bill Roth, product line manager of the J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition) platform at Sun Microsystems.

Roth said that although the company understands the potential of the technology, there are still some holes to fill. Until that happens, he said, "you've really got half a cow."

Steve Yellenberg, a director at Inprise, in Scotts Valley, Calif., was even less enthusiastic, noting that the company does feel a need to support XML, but asserts that more time is needed to watch the market and discern exactly where the technology will fit.

One company that has been vocal about supporting XML is Microsoft, which this week released the first specification of its BizTalk Framework and shipped its BizTalk Developer's Jumpstart Kit.

BizTalk, which Microsoft's competitors say is a proprietary approach to XML, is Microsoft's effort at providing a standardized way for its customers to develop with XML.

Microsoft's product manager, David Turner, said the delivery of the specification is a signal that it is time for companies to start planning their XML implementations.

"There's no doubt we're still early in the process, but enough of the core technology, such as tools and reference implementations, is ready so that at minimum companies should start working on their implementations now," Turner said. "We're close enough to the finish line that what you do today will get implemented in the next year."

Charles Fitzgerald, director of business development for Microsoft's Developer Group, said the company is making "huge investments" in XML and urged developers to "stay tuned."

"Microsoft's strategy historically has been not just to support the platform technology, but also to build tools that make those technologies successful to the broadest range of developers regardless of their background, their skill set, or their choice of programming language," Fitzgerald said.

Sun Microsystems Inc., in Palo Alto, Calif., is at www.sun.com. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., is at www.microsoft.com.