printCafe vs. PrintTalk--Waging a PrintWar?

Walker agrees, explaining that PrintTalk's mission is to get people to use the integration. "We don't want any barriers. We want people to use it, and they don't have to be a member of PrintTalk. They can go to the Website, get the interface and start using it."

While the interface is open to anyone, there are additional benefits for paying the $2,000 fee to become a member of PrintTalk, reports Walker. Membership provides companies with the opportunity to receive additional technical help, as well as input on the group's activities. PrintTalk membership requires e-commerce companies to implement the PrintTalk data interface into their product offerings within six months, according to Mekis. Members are also expected to be active in developing the business objects requested by customers. To date, PrintTalk has released four of its 16 business objects. The rest of the 12 business objects are slated for release by the end of this year.

Data Security Issues
Perhaps one of the most distinct differences between printCafe and PrintTalk is how they approach issues surrounding data security. Both printCafe and PrintTalk use standard Internet encryption and security measures. However, they differ in how they pass the data between buyer and printer. The data that is funneled into printCafe, through the PCX interface, is subject to an automated data integrity review by printCafe before it is passed onto the management systems. Data is never exposed in the transfer process and there is never any human intervention, says Olin. This process is used only to assure the integrity of the data and to avoid data corruption.

"The Internet is not magic, and there are still some issues that need to be resolved," claims Olin. The data that is passed through the printCafe system is still owned by the buyer or printer and is not mined or used for any outside purpose, he assures. "printCafe has a privacy policy that basically says we will secure each of the parties' data, and that it cannot be mined or utilized for outside purposes."