X.400: WHAT IS IT? - PART 2
by Ruben Boiardi

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Last month's article gave a brief overview of the X.400 series
of recommendations for mail interchange. This month we will
look at some of the barriers to the implementation of this
standard. These barriers can be broken down into two general
areas: technical and financial.

On the technical front, one of the major problems is the lack
of an X.400 certification procedure that is accepted around the
world. To date, there are several different test suites that
can be used to verify how close an individual mail system is to
X.400. It is entirely possible to have different mail programs
apparently conform to X.400, yet still be unable to communicate
with each other. For example, it took a lot of hard work by
some very talented people to get Telemail's X.400 product to
communicate with Data General's X.400 product at a
demonstration this January. Both products are X.400 compatible,
yet interfacing the two was not a simple matter of just
flipping a switch. Efforts have been underway to develop a
standard X.400 certification procedure. Once in place, this
will help to streamline the process by which mail systems
become interconnected.

There are also several financial issues raised by the prospect
of X.400. One of these issues is that of the cost of traffic.
As we saw last month, a message is routed to its final
destination via one or more Message Transfer Agents. There are
certain costs involved in relaying messages and establishing
network connections. Before X.400 can become a truly worldwide
system, agreements will have to be reached with all
participants regarding the distribution of these costs, much
like the agreements countries already have in place to deal
with telex traffic. Also, since the purpose of X.400 is to
link different mail services, some electronic mail providers
see it as a threat. According to the February 22 edition of
"Forbes", some American E-mail service providers are expressing
a reluctance toward X.400 out of a fear of increased costs and
of opening up their customer lists to competitors.

These fears are not unreasonable. However, it's our experience
and our strongly held belief at Unison that connectivity with
other professional systems ultimately makes the "pie" bigger
for all. Provincialism serves neither people nor technology.

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author's note: Ruben Boiardi is on the staff of UNISON. This
article first appeared in "In Unison" - part I can be found
in the February issue of NETWEAVER.