By this point, I hope you're convinced that XML has tremendous potential to revolutionize the way eBusiness works. While potential is great, what really counts are actual results in the marketplace. This section describes three case studies in which organizations have used XML to streamline their business processes and improve their results.

All of the case studies discussed here come from IBM's jStart program. The jStart team exists to help customers use new technologies to solve problems. When a customer agrees to a jStart engagement, the customer receives IBM consulting and development services at a discount, with the understanding that the resulting project will be used as a case study. If you'd like to see more case studies, including case studies involving Web services and other new technologies, visit the jStart Web page at ibm.com/software/jstart.

Be aware that the jStart team is no longer doing engagements for XML projects; the team's current focus is Web services engagements. Web services use XML in a specialized way, typically through the SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI standards mentioned earlier in Web services.