Staffing Industry Data Exchange Standards (SIDES) Version 1.0

HR-XML Consortium Unveils Staffing Industry Data Exchange Standards (SIDES)

Staffing Industry Leaders Endorse Latest HR-XML Standard

Raleigh, N.C., USA. May 1, 2002.

The HR-XML Consortium, the global, non-profit organization dedicated to creating standards for human resources data interchange, today announced that six leading staffing firms have endorsed HR-XML's newly approved Staffing Industry Data Exchange Standards (SIDES). These firms were the sponsors that developed the original "straw man" version of SIDES, which was donated to the HR-XML Consortium for further refinement and development. The six staffing firms -- Adecco, Kelly, Manpower, Randstad, Spherion and Vedior -- have issued the attached co-authored letter of endorsement for SIDES. This suite of open standards is designed to increase the efficiency of staffing processes and to reduce associated integration costs.

The objective of SIDES is to provide a set of standards for the exchange of information between staffing customers, staffing suppliers, and intermediaries. SIDES consists of a suite of XML-based specifications designed to support a full range of staffing processes. SIDES will improve efficiency and reduce integration costs for all parties by dramatically reducing the need to design and implement custom interfaces to link to trading partner systems.

"The endorsement of the HR-XML Consortium's SIDES specification by so many leading firms is a good indicator that adoption of the standard will be rapid," said Chuck Allen, Executive Director of the HR-XML Consortium. "We anticipate that staffing customers will begin to use compliance with the SIDES specification as an important criteria in selecting staffing suppliers and software solutions."

SIDES will be unveiled to the staffing industry at the upcoming Staffing Industry Executive Forum (2002 May 7, San Francisco). Participants will have the opportunity to attend a presentation that will review the business case for SIDES as well as its technical underpinnings. For further information on this conference, visit the Staffing Industry Report website. To download the SIDES specification or the Guide to SIDES (a plain-language explanation of the specification), visit http://www.hr-xml.org/sides/

About the HR-XML Consortium, Inc.

HR-XML (http://www.hr-xml.org) is an independent, nonprofit consortium dedicated to enabling e-commerce and inter-company exchange of human resources (HR) data worldwide. The work of the Consortium centers on the development and promotion of standardized XML vocabularies for HR.

HR-XML's current efforts are focused on standards for staffing and recruiting, compensation and benefits, training and workforce management. HR-XML is represented by its membership in 22 countries.

Letter of Endorsement

In 2001, our six firms undertook an initiative to find ways to provide added benefit and ease of interaction within the relationship that customers and others have with the staffing industry. Since that time, we made significant progress by developing a set of standard data definitions that can add efficiency and reduce integration costs when using the Web for data exchange and related processes.

Staffing companies are aware of increasing requests from customers and intermediaries to link directly or indirectly to their procurement systems, to provide an efficient means of ordering and supplying products and services. Staffing industry leaders, and many others, understand that the most cost-effective means of exchanging data is to have a data interchange standard. Such a standard should be one that customers, intermediaries and the staffing industry can embrace.

Without these standards, staffing companies and their customers find that the process of connecting disparate systems is both inefficient and expensive. Our view was that an open, public standard was appropriate and should be developed to improve efficiencies and reduce the costs of online procurement for the benefit of customers, staffing industry members and other stakeholders.

Since the benefits of the Staffing Industry Data Exchange Standards (SIDES) are realized exponentially as the standards are implemented by more enterprises, the SIDES sponsoring firms, HR-XML, and the industry have shown a great deal of interest in helping to create awareness, interest, and voluntary implementation of the standards.

For that reason we made the decision last year, on behalf of the six sponsoring firms, to donate the intellectual property of SIDES to the HR-XML Consortium for refinement and release. For the same reason, we have individually and jointly signed this note of endorsement and encouragement in the use of the standards.

We recommend and support the earliest possible implementation of SIDES, within our sponsoring firms and others in the staffing industry, to capitalize on the opportunities presented. We further recommend that our customers, and other stakeholders, who can benefit from compliance with SIDES, do so as soon as feasible to more quickly gain the efficiencies that are enabled by the adoption of these standards.

John Bowmer, Chairman
Adecco SA

Carl T. Camden, President & COO
Kelly Services, Inc.

Jeffrey A. Joerres, Chairman & CEO
Manpower Inc.

Cleem Farla, CEO
Randstad Holding

Tony Martin, Chairman & CEO
Vedior NV

Cinda A. Hallman, President & CEO
Spherion Corporation

Prepared by Robin Cover for The XML Cover Pages archive. See "Staffing Industry Data Exchange Standards (SIDES)" and "HR-XML Consortium."

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These firms were the sponsors that developed the original "straw man" version of SIDES, which was donated to the HR-XML Consortium for further refinement and development. The six staffing firms -- Adecco, Kelly, Manpower, Randstad, Spherion and Vedior -- have issued the attached co-authored letter of endorsement for SIDES. This suite of open standards is designed to increase the efficiency of staffing processes and to reduce associated integration costs. The objective of SIDES is to provide a set of standards for the exchange of information between staffing customers, staffing suppliers, and intermediaries. SIDES consists of a suite of XML-based specifications designed to support a full range of staffing processes. SIDES will improve efficiency and reduce integration costs for all parties by dramatically reducing the need to design and implement custom interfaces to link to trading partner systems. "The endorsement of the HR-XML Consortium's SIDES specification by so many leading firms is a good indicator that adoption of the standard will be rapid," said Chuck Allen, Executive Director of the HR-XML Consortium. "We anticipate that staffing customers will begin to use compliance with the SIDES specification as an important criteria in selecting staffing suppliers and software solutions." SIDES will be unveiled to the staffing industry at the upcoming Staffing Industry Executive Forum (2002 May 7, San Francisco). Participants will have the opportunity to attend a presentation that will review the business case for SIDES as well as its technical underpinnings. For further information on this conference, visit the Staffing Industry Report website. To download the SIDES specification or the Guide to SIDES (a plain-language explanation of the specification), visit http://www.hr-xml.org/sides/ About the HR-XML Consortium, Inc. HR-XML (http://www.hr-xml.org) is an independent, nonprofit consortium dedicated to enabling e-commerce and inter-company exchange of human resources (HR) data worldwide. The work of the Consortium centers on the development and promotion of standardized XML vocabularies for HR. HR-XML's current efforts are focused on standards for staffing and recruiting, compensation and benefits, training and workforce management. HR-XML is represented by its membership in 22 countries. Letter of Endorsement In 2001, our six firms undertook an initiative to find ways to provide added benefit and ease of interaction within the relationship that customers and others have with the staffing industry. Since that time, we made significant progress by developing a set of standard data definitions that can add efficiency and reduce integration costs when using the Web for data exchange and related processes. Staffing companies are aware of increasing requests from customers and intermediaries to link directly or indirectly to their procurement systems, to provide an efficient means of ordering and supplying products and services. Staffing industry leaders, and many others, understand that the most cost-effective means of exchanging data is to have a data interchange standard. Such a standard should be one that customers, intermediaries and the staffing industry can embrace. Without these standards, staffing companies and their customers find that the process of connecting disparate systems is both inefficient and expensive. Our view was that an open, public standard was appropriate and should be developed to improve efficiencies and reduce the costs of online procurement for the benefit of customers, staffing industry members and other stakeholders. Since the benefits of the Staffing Industry Data Exchange Standards (SIDES) are realized exponentially as the standards are implemented by more enterprises, the SIDES sponsoring firms, HR-XML, and the industry have shown a great deal of interest in helping to create awareness, interest, and voluntary implementation of the standards. For that reason we made the decision last year, on behalf of the six sponsoring firms, to donate the intellectual property of SIDES to the HR-XML Consortium for refinement and release. For the same reason, we have individually and jointly signed this note of endorsement and encouragement in the use of the standards. We recommend and support the earliest possible implementation of SIDES, within our sponsoring firms and others in the staffing industry, to capitalize on the opportunities presented. We further recommend that our customers, and other stakeholders, who can benefit from compliance with SIDES, do so as soon as feasible to more quickly gain the efficiencies that are enabled by the adoption of these standards. John Bowmer, Chairman Adecco SA Carl T. Camden, President & COO Kelly Services, Inc. Jeffrey A. Joerres, Chairman & CEO Manpower Inc. Cleem Farla, CEO Randstad Holding Tony Martin, Chairman & CEO Vedior NV Cinda A. Hallman, President & CEO Spherion Corporation Prepared by Robin Cover for The XML Cover Pages archive. See "Staffing Industry Data Exchange Standards (SIDES)" and "HR-XML Consortium."