I've heard XML is important for e-commerce. However, each business has its own software and its own infrastructure. Within a company, developers can set up a series of rules and standardize them for Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0, but it's much harder to do that from one business to another. XML provides a neutral format to use when exchanging data. Whether you're sending data using HTTP between Web servers, or using the SMTP transport, XML gives you a way to send that data from one business process to another.
Most businesses already have a communications channel to other businesses using e-mail.
With Exchange 2000, you can take those interactions and separate them out into application servers that are part of the overall Exchange environment. The receiver may use Exchange or any other BizTalk-compatible software. XML provides a great infrastructure for building these applications and integrating them with existing information technology. We have established the BizTalk.org Web site for developers to contribute industry-specific schemas that they develop in their applications. Anyone who develops a new schema for a particular industry can publish it here.