Microsoft's Statement Appears to Be Sycophantic
By CXOtoday Staff
Mumbai, Mar 24, 2008

Subsequent to India's rejection to Microsoft's document format Office Open XML (OOXML), the company has stated, "While we are disappointed with the decision of the BIS LITD 15 committee, we are very encouraged by the support of IT industry players like NASSCOM, TCS, Wipro and Infosys who voted in favor of Open XML becoming an ISO standard."

In the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) meeting, out of 19 members, five were not present. Thus out of 14 members, 1 remained abstained from voting, five voted in favor of OOXML and the rest did against it.

Contextually, OOXML is the latest format of electronic documents (spreadsheets, charts, presentations, word processing, etc). This was initially developed by Microsoft and later handed over to Ecma International. Ecma further developed it to action levels as a standard called Ecma 376.

Microsoft further states, "The Indian government, industry stalwarts and trade bodies have supported multiple standards and technology neutrality. We will therefore continue to work with the government to address any concerns they may have; and to achieve its stated goal of technology neutrality. We are committed to working towards what is best for the Indian IT industry."

Also, according to the company, "Open XML encourages choice, flexibility and interoperability for IT industry and IT users - a fact underlined by leading Indian IT solution providers increasingly using the format as a preferred technology standard for applications addressing both the Indian and global customers."

However, the fact is there are many question marks against the claim of openness of the format. Microsoft states, "The concerns raised by the LITD 15 Committee have been addressed by the ISO and Ecma International (the proposer of the ISO/IEC DIS 29500 Office Open XML) with a majority of the comments getting addressed at the recently concluded Ballot Resolution Meeting (BRM) at Geneva. We hoped that 98.73% of the total 1027 comments from all National Bodies stood resolved at the BRM would be welcomed by the BIS, as it has been by the National Bodies of numerous countries."

The company communicates, "Open XML was approved by Ecma International in December 2006, and then submitted by them for standardization at the ISO. At the conclusion of the Ballot process, the BIS voted a 'Disapprove with 82 Comments' in September 2007 for Open XML. Between September 2007 and January 2008, Ecma International worked on and submitted proposed dispositions to all the comments, all of which were discussed during the Ballot Resolution Meeting last month; and 1011 of them adopted by consensus. The ISO will take a decision after March 29, 2008, the last date for receiving votes from all member nations."

In the Indian context, Microsoft's post rejection statement carries no weight. When the statement itself is communicating that even at international level, the final decision is still pending, it was a vainglorious hope for the organization that the Indian body would accept its proposed format, especially, when the proponents of the idea of independence of standards from any particular environment or application are quite active here.


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