Microsoft Corp. announced Windows Distributed interNet Architecture (Windows DNA) 2000, a comprehensive, integrated platform for building and operating distributed Web applications as well as Internet-based Web services. Web services represent an evolution from today’s Web sites that simply deliver pages to a browser. Richer, more personalized and more proactive, these Web services can directly link applications, services and devices with one another over the Internet. Microsoft is creating tools and infrastructure to make Web services into reusable, universally programmable building blocks that can be easily created, combined and augmented by developers around the world. Once programmable, Web services become another piece in the assembly of solutions that can span multiple software components, business processes and applications anywhere on the Internet. Windows DNA 2000 builds upon XML as its fundamental foundation to put the resources of the entire Internet within reach of developers. The Windows DNA 2000 family of solutions includes: Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Commerce Server 4.0, Microsoft BizTalk Server, Microsoft “Babylon” Integration Server which provides bi-directional network, data and application integration with legacy hosts, Microsoft AppCenter, a new product that makes deployment and management of Windows DNA-based applications across high availability server “farms” as easy as managing a single server, Microsoft SQL Server “Shiloh”, the next generation of SQL Server 7.0 that adds native XML support and integrated data-mining capabilities, and Microsoft Visual Studio. Microsoft also submitted to the IETF an Internet draft specification for the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), an XML-based mechanism that bridges different object models over the Internet and provides an open mechanism for Web services to communicate with one another. Windows 2000 is expected to release to manufacturing this year. The other server products in the Windows DNA 2000 family will enter beta testing this year and are expected to be available by the middle of 2000. www.microsoft.com
Month: September 1999 (Page 9 of 12)
Microsoft Corp. today announced the availability of the freely downloadable BizTalk JumpStart Kit to aid developers in the immediate creation of BizTalk-compatible software applications. The Microsoft BizTalk JumpStart Kit makes it easier for developers to use XML schemas and the BizTalk Framework in current development projects and existing applications and to realize the benefits of XML for electronic-commerce and application integration within and across organizations. In addition, a library for BizTalk-compatible schemas is now live on the BizTalk.Org Web site, with more than 100 freely available schemas submitted by 30 organizations. www.microsoft.com
Ariba, Inc. announced it has completed its integration of Commerce XML (cXML) with the Microsoft BizTalk Framework. A member of the BizTalk Steering Committee, Ariba has integrated cXML with the BizTalk Framework to enable electronic exchange of business-to-business content, such as catalogs and purchase orders, between Ariba eCommerce solutions and the multitude of supplier Web sites based on the BizTalk Framework. cXML supports all supplier content and catalog methods, including buyer-managed, supplier-managed, content management services, electronic marketplaces, and Web-based sourcing organizations. In addition, cXML defines a request/response process for the exchange of transaction information for purchase orders, change orders, acknowledgments, status updates, ship notifications and other transactions. cXML is integrated with the BizTalk Framework using the XML-data Reduced (XDR) syntax. A list of supporting companies and additional information is available at www.cxml.org. www.ariba.com
i-mind education systems, inc., announced the release of the underlying architecture that drives the i-mind education hub, code named “Otto.” The “Otto” engine is an educational framework or “backplane” that is compliant with leading educational standards and based on Internet technologies. i-mind will deploy this Enterprise JavaBeans-based system into select Florida and California schools this fall; it will be broadly available early 2000. Capable of running on any modern operating system, the framework provides interoperability among legacy administrative systems, Internet-based content delivery technologies, and instructional productivity tools. i-mind uses Citrix Systems, Inc. application server software as its cornerstone. i-mind education systems is a charter member of the SchoolTone Alliance (formerly WebTone), an organization devoted to improving the educational futures of children. Tracking the work of the Schools Interoperability Framework, the IMS Project, and the AICC’s recommendations for Computer-Managed Instruction, i-mind’s first product, code-named “Otto” (named after Nicolaus Adam Otto, the inventor of the four-stroke engine), is an interoperability framework that runs on school and district servers. It links existing teacher management systems (such as attendance, scheduling, and resource management systems) with new systems, especially those that provide “line-of-business” information to teachers, parents, and students. Otto leverages Internet-enabling technologies such as XML, LDAP, and the Internet Mail Consortium’s iCalendar specifications, to make systems available on any browser-enabled device with scalability and security. www.i-mind.com
Navision Software announced its plans to support the BizTalk Framework by developing BizTalk-compatible schemas for electronic exchange of business documents and messages expressed in XML. www.navision.com.
Technomation Systems Inc. announced plans to support Microsoft’s BizTalk Framework by incorporating it into Technomation’s BizOffice Portal for eProposals (electronic proposals). Technomation’s eProposal XML schema will initially be offered as a schema for the exchange of eProposals and quotations along the integrated E-value chain of proposal creation, quote generation, order entry, inventory control, invoicing, and post-sales customer support. The eProposal XML schema will provide the means for transferring data and descriptions of products or services, including specifications, capabilities, and costs, which can be communicated to potential customers, vendors, or trading partners. www.technomation.com
c-call.com, Inc. announced its support for the Microsoft BizTalk Framework by publishing a schema for the seamless electronic exchange of earnings-related corporate events of interest to securities analysts, institutional investors and individual investors. Data described with this schema can be used for scheduling, planning and researching, while serving as a host of other investment-oriented functions. One of its uses is in populating a corporate earnings calendar targeted at analysts, institutional investors and individual investors. This corporate earnings calendar can aggregate and organize detailed information about current, future and historical earnings-related events that affect a list of companies of interest to an investor. www.ccall.com
Efinity Inc. announced their entry as an application service provider for real-time management of supply chain and business systems transactions for manufacturing companies and their trading partners. Customers are provided a secure connection to Efinity’s Internet hosted application, streamlining day-to-day business operations including order entry, change orders, shipment status and forecasting, as well as inventory control. Utilizing the Internet and emerging standards technologies such as XML, Efinity provides a marketplace where buyers and suppliers of manufactured goods and services exchange vital, real-time business transaction data. Efinity’s hosted applications allow companies with dissimilar business systems to communicate through a common medium. Efinity provides the service of “translating” the data so the companies can utilize the transacted information in a secure environment. Another feature of the system provides every user with the means of personalizing their view of the software, to better improve their work efficiency. www.efinity.com.
