Interoperability Articles
Driving customer choice on multiple levels
The best technologies give users the greatest range of choices in how they can accomplish tasks and business objectives. The essence of customer choice is the ability to use the right solution for a given purpose with the fewest limitations on what is possible. What‘s the best solution? There is no one right answer. It‘s completely up to the customer to decide. This is especially true for document creation, one of the most common uses of computing technology.
When document format choices are limited, restrictions on technology choices generally follow. A document format that works with a limited set of platforms and applications will restrict the user to those technologies. The converse is also true. Expanding the range of document choices through interoperability opens up new choices to users of technology. Microsoft is aware of this truth and has made a commitment to document interoperability through the Open XML Formats specification.
Open XML is a standards-based specification that enables documents to function across numerous systems and platforms. For example, an Open XML Word processing document created with IBM Lotus Symphony can be opened on an Apple Macintosh running the iWork desktop productivity suite, TextEdit for the OS-X operating system, the Microsoft Office system for Mac software, or on a PC running Microsoft Office Word 2007. Giving the end user the work with the document across multiple technology choices.
Microsoft has made a major commitment to document interoperability with Open XML. The company is active in supporting numerous document interoperability initiatives, which are bearing fruit among many technology communities. The company‘s commitment has resulted in improved customer choice at virtually every level of the computing experience, from enterprise document management to hand-held devices.
At the enterprise level, the Open XML SDK enables Open XML documents to be processed by large-scale document management systems, such as those used in the insurance or government sectors. This capability creates customer choice in two ways. The enterprise system developer is able to add more document formats to the solution and integrate easily with the productivity applications that the client prefers. The end user can select a preferred desktop productivity tool without concern for the backend document processing system.
For desktop productivity tool users, document interoperability through Open XML means being able to choose the right platform and tool set for the job. Open XML gives users the choice between Mac, Linux, Windows operating systems, Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, and other productivity tools. ODF to Open XML translators are one of the many ways that OpenOffice to Microsoft Office document interoperability is realized in this environment. The user has a choice in the way the work gets done.
Finally, as millions of document creators and consumers take their work on the road, document interoperability is a critical factor in choices for mobile computing technologies. Open XML is now mobile with interoperability between OpenOffice, Microsoft Office, and the iPhone. Mobile document interoperability is again all about choice: the choice to work where one wants to, using the device of choice.
- Open XML/ODF Translator Demo (video).
- Office Interoperability, by Doug Mahugh (blog).
- Gray Matter, by Gray Knowlton (blog).
- Document Interoperability initiatives (site).
- See how customers are using iPhone to read email and access documents (video).
- “Protecting Our Digital Heritage: Standards, Collaboration and Awareness,” by Oliver Bell (article).
- Open-source tools aid Microsoft Outlook access facilitating the portability of data in .pst files, allowing government and commercial users more flexibility in storing, sharing and manipulating information created in Microsoft Outlook.
