▁currently ▁an ▁IBM ▁Dist ingu ished ▁Engine er , ▁and ▁C TO ▁Open ▁Techn ologies . ▁ ▁History ▁ ▁In ▁ 1 9 9 9 , ▁Ferr is ▁was ▁invited ▁to ▁work ▁with ▁O AS IS ▁( organ ization ) ▁on ▁the ▁problem ▁of ▁B 2 B ▁transactions , ▁launch ing ▁his ▁open ▁source ▁career ▁development . ▁In ▁the ▁early ▁days ▁of ▁the ▁internet , ▁vendor - specific ▁and ▁propriet ary ▁Electron ic ▁Data ▁Inter change ▁or ▁E DI ▁systems ▁were ▁prov ing ▁“ cl unk y ” ▁( slow ▁to ▁deploy ▁and ▁hard ▁to ▁maintain ), ▁and ▁needed ▁to ▁be ▁re vised ▁and ▁opened ▁up ▁to ▁encou rage ▁much ▁faster ▁ad option ▁rates . ▁ ▁As ▁a ▁Chief ▁Arch itect ▁of ▁Sun ▁Mic ros ystem s ▁IT , ▁he ▁was ▁invited ▁to ▁the ▁first ▁and ▁second ▁meet ings ▁of ▁the ▁O AS IS ▁( organ ization ) ▁working ▁group ▁looking ▁into ▁eb XML ▁( E lect ron ic ▁Business ▁Mark up ▁Language ) ▁for ▁ER P ▁( Enter prise ▁Resource ▁Management ) ▁and ▁B 2 B ▁( Bus iness ▁to ▁Business ) ▁transactions , ▁such ▁as ▁in vo ices , ▁purch asing , ▁payment ▁transactions . ▁ ▁The ▁United ▁Nations ▁adopted ▁this ▁work ▁as ▁the ▁found ational ▁international ▁standard ▁around ▁global ▁commerce , ▁see ▁UN / CE FA CT . ▁ ▁Ferr is ▁became ▁vice ▁chair ▁of ▁the ▁O AS IS ▁working ▁group ▁on ▁mess aging . ▁ ▁This ▁work ▁lead ▁to ▁SO AP ▁replacing ▁or ▁underlying ▁vendor - specific ▁propriet ary