Computer system, method, and business method for automating business-to-business communications

A networked computer system comprising:

• (A) a first computer system comprising:
• a first processor;
• a first memory coupled to the first processor;
• a first data structure residing in the first memory;
• a first application residing in the first memory;
• a trigger mechanism residing in the first memory and executed by the first processor that detects a change to the first data structure and, in response, invokes the first application;
• a software tool residing in the memory that is invoked by the first application to retrieve information from the data structure and to format the information into an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) document according to information contained in a mapping file that defines the structure and content of the XML document;
• a response mechanism residing in the first memory and executed by the first processor that processes at least one response from a second computer system;
• (B) a front-end application coupled to the first computer system that allows a user to cause a change in the first data structure;
• (C) a virtual private network that provides encoded messages between the first computer system and the second computer system, the virtual private network transmitting the XML document from the first computer system to the second computer system;
• (D) the second computer system comprising:
• a second processor;
• a second memory coupled to the second processor;
• a second data structure residing in the memory;
• a second application residing in the second memory, the second application receiving the XML document via the virtual private network;
• an XML parser residing in the second memory, the XML parser parsing the formatted information and generating therefrom second information;
• the second application performing the steps of:
• adding the second information to the second data structure;
• processing the second information in the second data structure;
• formatting a response XML document indicating status of processing the second information;
• and
• transmitting the response XML document to the response mechanism of the first computer system via the virtual private network.

A method for communicating and exchanging data between a first computer system and a second computer system, the method comprising the steps of:

• (1) detecting a change to a first data structure in the first computer system;
• (2) retrieving first information from the first data structure;
• (3) formatting the first information into an XML document;
• (4) transmitting the formatted first information from the first computer system to the second computer system via a secure communication mechanism that provides encoded messages between the first computer system and the second computer system;
• (5) parsing the formatted first information by the second computer system and generating therefrom second information by the second computer system;
• (6) acting upon the second information according to business logic residing in the second computer system;
• and
• (7) generating a response XML document to the first computer system and transmitting the response XML document via the secure communication mechanism, the response XML document indicates status of the processing of the second information in the second computer system.

A method for communicating and exchanging data between a first computer system and a second computer system, the method comprising the steps of:

• (1) a user using a front-end application to cause a change to a first data structure in the first computer system;
• (2) detecting the change to the first data structure by the first computer system;
• (3) using a XML Lightweight Extractor (XLE) to extract first information from the first data structure and to format the first information into an XML document that satisfies a mapping file that defines the structure and content of the XML document;
• (4) transmitting the XML document from the first computer system to the second computer system via a virtual private network that provides encoded messages between the first computer system and the second computer system;
• (5) parsing the XML document and generating therefrom second information by the second computer system;
• (6) processing the second information by the second computer system;
• (8) formatting a response XML document indicating status of processing the second information;
• and
• (9) transmitting the response XML document to the first computer system via the virtual private network.

A method for doing business by exchanging data between computer systems, the method comprising the steps of:

• monitoring for changes in a first data structure in a first computer system;
• detecting a change to the first data structure;
• in response to the detected change in the first data structure, extracting first information from the first data structure;
• formatting the first information into an XML document;
• sending the formatted first information to a second computer system for processing via a secure communication mechanism that provides encoded messages between the first computer system and the second computer system;
• parsing the formatted first information by the second computer system to generate parsed information;
• acting upon the parsed information by the second computer system according to business logic residing in the second computer system;
• and
• generating a response XML document to the first computer system that indicates status of the processing of the parsed information, and transmitting the response XML document via the secure communication mechanism.

A method for an insurance company that has a first computer system to do business with an insurance underwriter that has a second computer system, the method comprising the steps of:

• a trigger program executing on the first computer system monitoring a first database in the first computer system for changes;
• the trigger program detecting a change to the first database, the change corresponding to a new application for an insurance policy;
• in response to the detected change in the first database, invoking a first software application on the first computer system to extract first information from the first database, the first information corresponding to information in the new application for an insurance policy;
• the first software application formatting the first information into an XML document according to information contained in a mapping file that defines the structure and content of the XML document;
• the first software application sending the XML document to a second application executing on the second computer system via a virtual private network that provides encoded messages between the first computer system and the second computer system;
• the second software application parsing the XML document;
• the second software application acting upon information in the parsed XML document according to insurance underwriting logic residing in the second computer system;
• and
• the second software application generating a response XML document that indicates whether the new application for the insurance policy is approved and sending the response XML document to the first computer system via the virtual private network.