Pacific Edge Software has announced the expansion of the Project Management Extensible Markup Language (PMXML) standards organization with the addition of several new Consortium members, an updated XML specification, and a new discussion forum. The industry group has chartered collaborative work to develop and refine PMXML as "the standard XML definition for project data." The goal of the XML schema design is to enable project management tools 'talk' and thus 'understand' each other; as a result [is it maintained] they can exchange information regarding task and project status, resource assignments, additional project attributes, and the work involved to complete these projects." Development of the PMXML standard is driven by the conviction that companies "should not be forced to adopt a single standard for data storage, particularly across diverse applications; organizations need immediate access to data pertinent to their project portfolios and the only way to provide flexibility and control is to create an industry standard that enables data interchange between whatever applications a company chooses to use." NASA, Oracle, PM Boulevard LLC, and PM Solutions have recently joined the PMXML initiative, originally created in March 2000.

From the announcement:

Originally created in early 2000, the PMXML Consortium began to define the data elements of project management, leading to the PMXML schema, which provides access to project data. In March of 2002, Pacific Edge announced the Project Office Connector that includes extended PMXML-based connectivity for the flexible exchange of portfolio data.

"It's not surprising that NASA uses a multitude of different software applications to store and manage project data," said Anita Alexander, chair of the NASA Project Management Tool Working Group. "A data structuring schema like PMXML would make it easier to share and navigate data within any disparate e-business environment. We believe the PMXML Consortium is moving in the right direction by working to create and enhance an open standard for data exchange."

All of the member companies will work with Pacific Edge Software to update the PMXML schema on a regular basis. Currently, the group is open to any organization that is interested in the ongoing development of the standard.

The YahooGroups 'pm_xml -- Project Management XML' group is for those interested in developing the Project Management XML (PMXML) schema. PMXML is designed to address the project management interchange, content, and publication challenges. Project Management is key to the success of a business. Historically, however, project management has been treated as anciallary to a normal business practice. Successful enterprises need to share project management information such as status, resource allocations, scheduling, and costing..."