Microsoft on its part is, however, hopeful and has not been
discouraged by the BIS verdict. "We respect the decision taken by the BIS,
however, we have not lost the vote instead it is a process which will continue
for the next three to four months," says Rakesh Bakshi, legal affairs head,
Microsoft India. "Also, it is important to note that all BIS members
unanimously support the need for multiple standards," he adds.
The ODF faction backed by IBM-Sun have accused Microsoft of
trying to push acceptance of a standard that has a number of technical flaws.
"The specification is not completely open meaning that even though the
design specification says it is a true representation of legacy there is no
backward compatibility with Microsofts own legacy document," alleges
Ashish Gautam, country manager, IBM India.
Whichever standard the Indian government chooses to follow, it
would certainly be a massive business opportunity for both the factions, simply
because of the quantity of documents (currently stored on paper) to be converted
into electronic document format, by the Indian central and state government
departments.
The ODF faction is insistent on a single standard. "If
there were multiple standards, the Internet would have never taken off,"
says Gautam. Uniform standards and interchangeable software applications can
help organization coordinate in times of emergency; are a hedge against
inevitable software obsolescence; help preserve vital public records; encourage
lower software costs and innovation; and help governments take back their
sovereignty over electronic information that belongs to them in the first place.
|
The ISO
Voting Process |
|
There is, expectedly, a lot
of interest about the ultimate fate of OOXML in ISO. But few understand
the voting process in ISO. Here is an attempt to demystify the entire
procedure.
The ISO has various
committees that have mandate to look into standardization in various
areas. IT related standardization is the responsibility of a committee
called JTC1, which is considering the Microsoft-backed Office Open XML
(ISO/IEC DIS 29500).
Though there are close to
104 countries that have the option to vote on this, it is not a simple
majority of Yes or No votes that determined its fate.
Actually, the membership of
JTC1 has two tiers. One tire, called participating members, or P members
have a larger say in the issue, as compared to the other tier, called O
members, or observing members. All, however, can vote, and can ask for
clarification. At present, there are forty-one P members (see list). India
is a participating member, whereas Brazil, another emerging country, is an
observing member.
Here is how the actual
voting works. For the resolution to be considered, at least 50% of the P
members should vote. If that condition is satisfied, the total number of
abstentions (P members only) is taken out from counting the votes. If from
the remaining, at least 2/3rd have voted "Yes", the standard is
closer to getting approved. But it still has to pass another test. If from
the total members (that is O and P put together), 25% or more votes are No
votes, then the resolution fails.
After the voting, the votes
and comments will be sent to both the JTC1 members as well as ECMA. ECMA
and Microsoft have time till 14 January to come with their solutions on
how to resolve the comments or ignore them. After that, the members will
get about six weeks to consider them before BRM, likely to be held in
Geneva in the week of February 25-29, 2008. This process will be
facilitated by the JTC1 subcommittee on document description and
processing SC 34.
So, Microsoft still has some time to work
on it and resolve the issues to the satisfaction of all countries saying
No. If it can satisfy them, there may be an acceptance of the resolution
at that time without voting or with a revote. However, if a revoting is
done, it will only be open to the P members. |
Microsoft on the other hand cites the reason that multiple
formats should be the norm in the present scenario. "Multiple standards
enables users to have more choice among formats at the same time facilitating
greater flexibility and interoperability amongst diverse technology solutions
that exist today," Bakshi says. Even one of the stalwarts of the Indian IT
industry, Infosys Narayan Murthy whose company incidentally was one of the
few companies supporting Microsoft in India in BIS has stood up for multiple
standards.
Microsoft is, of course, trying to downplay the debate between
OOXML versus ODF. "Since the ISO standards are not binding on anyone, these
are like a library of standards, which users can choose from and multiple
standards in the IT industry is a fairly common one," says Vijay Kapur,
national technology officer, Microsoft India.
The Road Ahead
All, is, of course, not lost for Bill Gates company. Microsoft has to
resolve the issues and satisfactorily answer the objections raised by some
members of ISOs JTC1, before the Ballot Resolution Meeting (BRM) in Geneva in
the end of February.
The tone of Microsofts release after the ISO results were
announced on 4 September is overtly optimistic. "We are extremely delighted
to see that fifty-one ISO members, representing 74% of the qualified votes, have
already voiced their support for ISO ratification of Open XML. Also, many others
have indicated they will support ratification once their comments are resolved
in the next phase of the ISO process," says Tom Robertson, GM for
Interoperability and Standards at Microsoft.
"This preliminary vote is a milestone for the widespread
adoption of the Open XML formats around the world for the benefit of millions of
customers. Given how encouraging todays results were, we believe that the
final tally in early 2008 will result in the ratification of Open XML as an ISO
standard," he adds.
That looks likely. Microsoft has enough time to both address the
clarifications and lobby. Only a few countries will not change their stand. But
countries such as India, Canada, and Brazilwhich have no ideological
oppositionbut have real issues to address may well change their stands if
their objections are taken care of. At the same time, in democracies such as
India, changing decisions is not so easy. In India, for example, the Left
parties which have openly voiced support for open source, may well force the
government to take a stand against OOXML. Some, however, think that their
opposition may not count much as the BIS committee has few government
representatives.
If, even after the BRM, OOXML is not ratified by ISO, it will
most likely become a bloodier battle. "Both document formats will likely be
used. Many governments are investigating ODF, and Microsofts Open XML is
likely to become a de facto standard used by many organizations regardless of
whether the ISO adopts it as standard," says Gartner. "Even though
both OXML and ODF standards could converge in the long term, all organizations
should plan on them coexisting for at least the medium term," it adds.
Stuti Das
stutid@cybermedia.co.in Page(s) 1 2
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