OSBde

OSBde, short for Open Standards for Business Data Exchange, is an open standard and ecosystem aimed at enabling interoperable data exchange between enterprise software systems. It provides a common data model and API surface for core business entities, with a focus on predictable integration patterns across ERP, CRM, accounting, and supply-chain applications. The standard emphasizes extensibility through domain-specific profiles while preserving a stable core.

The scope of OSBde covers representative business objects such as customers, products, orders, invoices, and payments, along with common relationships and lifecycle events. It prescribes a core data contract, versioning rules, and a layered API approach that supports REST and, where appropriate, GraphQL, allowing both simple and complex queries. Security and governance are integral, incorporating standardized authentication, authorization, auditing, and data validation rules to support compliant data sharing.

OSBde was initiated by a coalition of standards groups and industry participants in the late 2010s, with governance formalized under the OSBde Foundation. The foundation oversees working groups on the data model, API design, conformance testing, and ecosystem tooling. Community input and RFC-style reviews shape successive releases, while a conformance suite assesses interoperability across implementations.

Architecturally, OSBde defines three layers: a stable core data model, an API surface with defined payload formats, and a transport/security layer that specifies encryption, access control, and token-based authentication. Implementations include reference libraries in multiple languages and adapters that map OSBde contracts to existing system schemas.

Adoption has grown among mid-market organizations seeking vendor-agnostic integrations, though some critics note potential fragmentation with competing standards. Related standards include OData, JSON:API, and OpenAPI.