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PIM realizes its potential: adaptive XML application is ideal for managing enterprise product information.

Article Excerpt
Product information is one of the few remaining strategic information assets within an enterprise that does not have a dedicated system of record. This is not surprising when one considers the complexities of product information management (PIM). Specifically, a comprehensive product information management application must be able to handle structured and unstructured information, share data, accommodate a variety of constantly changing data models, manage multiple inter-relationships, and enable multiple hierarchies, all without duplication of data. While enterprises and vendors alike have turned to content management and relational database architectures to address the challenges of product information management, these approaches have proven to be very limited and far less than satisfactory.

Recognizing the shortcomings of traditional approaches, several leading companies are now utilizing an emerging type of adaptive XML application to more effectively manage their product information. This new adaptive XML approach allows management of both unstructured and structured data and also provides extensive and rich functionality. Rather than limiting XML's use to inbound/outbound transformations, this approach uses XML as a core data model for the application. Traditionally, methodology for building applications utilizes compile-time data models; this makes the application rigid and tightly bound to the data model. The adaptive application utilizes an XML-based runtime data model and is used in all tiers of the application. In short, an application that is built using this approach easily handles the complexities of product data management and adapts to changing data models, which allows further extension of the capabilities beyond those of traditional applications.

Product Information Management and Its Challenges

Generally speaking, product information management (PIM) refers to a system for managing all types of information related to products. A PIM system needs to provide a system of record for products throughout the enterprise and maintain that information in a centralized location. In addition, it must provide rich functionality to address the challenges specific to product information.

Product information is unique in the variety of different data types associated with it. The information could include part number, price, and size (structured data); images, drawings, and merchandizing text (unstructured data); or...