Network World, 01/04/99

KARL SCHOHL ANX BUSINESS MANAGER, AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY ACTION GROUP

The Automotive Network Exchange (ANX) is not only the single most ambitious extranet project ever conceived, it will change the way your company uses the Internet to connect to business partners.

Schohl is the point person for ANX, a secure network that links automotive suppliers and auto makers over a multiprovider virtual private network (VPN). Among the companies that helped drive the ANX effort are Caterpillar, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors and TRW.

ANX was designed to replace the limited and limiting electronic data interchange networks that the car companies built to share business information with their suppliers. The industry 's move to the Internet and open protocols like TCP/IP promises to expand information sharing and make it easier for everyone in the business of building cars to communicate.

Why should you care? Well, for one thing, ISPs have to meet some pretty rigorous guidelines to be certified as service providers for ANX participants. Those guidelines cover everything from service features, interoperability and performance characteristics to reliability, disaster recovery, security and troubleshooting.

ANX, by making ISPs live up to its higher standards, will likely improve the quality of service available to all businesses and speed the rollout of enterprise-class VPNs. Gaining certification is important for ISPs because the Automotive Industry Action Group, which oversaw development of ANX, plans to make its ANX VPN available to other vertical industries, such as health care, insurance and finance, Schohl says.

SCHOHL'S CHALLENGE: While it's difficult for an individual customer to chart the course for suppliers, Schohl and his colleagues at ANX are doing just that for the Internet industry. That's a big enough challenge, wouldn't you say?

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