The reality is, standards are set. Any standards body will not go down to.... You can apply a standard in IT, and you can follow a standard, and be compliant with a standard, but it doesn't mean that two technologies that are compliant with the same standard will necessarily talk to each other 100%.
What I think has happened also is this. Look at the evolution of technology. We started that journey, let's say, in 2000. We're now sitting in 2013. What's available from a technology perspective today that's Internet based or web based allows for a lot more integration or interoperability of the technology. Where systems in the past could not talk to each other, it's a lot easier for those systems to talk to each other today.
I don't know if I'm answering your question.