POET eCatalog Suite, an out-of-the-box solution for extracting, managing and distributing supplier catalog data over the Internet for B2B eCommerce, is now available from POET Software. With POET eCatalog Suite (eCS), suppliers can now automate the traditionally labor-intensive process of assembling catalog information to send to buyers and content aggregation websites. POET eCatalog Suite is the essential supplier link to the Internet market. POET’s eCS solution addresses the growing demand for electronic catalog data and permits suppliers to automate the interaction with buy-side procurement software from companies like Ariba, and eMarkets like Ariba Network. Furthermore, even though buyers and eMarkets may require data in different formats-based on dialects of XML specific to a vertical market or procurement application-POET eCatalog Suite insulates the supplier from mastering these various dialects by transforming the data on the fly into the appropriate delivery format. As a result, POET eCatalog Suite enables any supplier to deploy an eCatalog solution that works with the growing ranks of Internet buyers and marketplaces — today and as B2B eCommerce evolves — without having to become experts in XML. By extracting the catalog data from an existing IT system and storing it in a separate master catalog, users can edit their data to make it useful to buyers-a process called data normalization. After the data is normalized, custom catalogs can be generated for each buyer or marketplace according to a unique profile. The catalog is then transmitted via the Internet where it can be loaded into a customer’s procurement software or to an eMarket of aggregated content using the appropriate dialect of XML. POET eCatalog Suite is written in 100% Java. And costs $30,000. www.poet.com
Year: 1999 (Page 37 of 97)
Interface Systems, Inc. announced adoption of XML as part of its new L2i (Legacy-to-Internet) technology platform. Interface will include XML support across its product line with the first implementation being its newly enhanced version of its eBill Manager product for electronic bill presentment and payment and MyCopy, designed for L2i electronic statement delivery for Web based environments. Interface’s L2i technology is the bridging technology between the mainframe, where information resides, and the desktop, where the information is needed. L2i allows companies to deliver information across the Internet or Intranets, fax machines, CD-ROMs, voice response systems or to remote and/or local printers. Interface’s L2i technology allows any Internet application to make full use of legacy application output without changing the legacy application in any way. Interface’s L2i products are based on the company’s Document Server software. These products include eBill Manager for Internet billing and MyCopy for Internet statement delivery. www.intface.com
Signaling a new era in institutional financial management, Integral today launched CFOWeb.com a business-to-business e-commerce portal for capital markets. CFOWeb.com will give CFOs, treasurers and fund managers free, direct access to sophisticated, powerful analytics and the ability to create, manage and maintain investment portfolios that are tailored to their specific needs. CFOWeb.com also gives investment banks and financial services providers an immediate online presence, dramatically increased deal flow and expanded geographic reach. CFOWeb.com helps financial services providers leverage the increasing opportunity presented by Internet delivery of products that is impacting nearly every vertical market. Participating in CFOWeb.com enables providers to either augment their own existing e-commerce site or to leverage CFOWeb.com as a rapid time-to-market e-commerce alternative. The innovative portal dramatically increases financial services providers’ deal flow and allows them to offer their products to a wider range of prospective customers, regardless of company size or location, in a dynamic online environment. CFOWeb.com will become an international network of banks, consultants, dealers, and independent service providers. CFOWeb.com is not a company, but an array of products and services delivered by industry providers to provide maximum value to end-users. The technology underlying CFOWeb.com is based on the Integral’s enterprise Java technology and XML. The core of the Integral platform is the Integral Internet Financial Server (IFS), an intelligent financial server capable of modeling financial instruments and events including front to back office trading and risk management processes provided by the financial institutions. Users and providers can register for CFOWeb.com at www.cfoweb.com. www.integral.com
Asymetrix Learning Systems, Inc. announced the availability of ToolBook II Instructor 7.1. Version 7.1 represents the next generation release of the online learning authoring product used by professional developers, programmers, instructional designers and trainers to create compelling, web-delivered courseware. Instructor 7.1 offers a host of new features including a DHTML runtime engine that allows authors to convert their applications to DHTML for delivery to 4.x and higher browsers; an Actions Editor, a visual programming tool that allows developers to create action sequences to add functionality that can be exported to DHTML; and AICC compliance, allowing courses created with the product to support connectivity to AICC compliant learning management systems and servers. Additionally, Instructor 7.1 now includes XML support by exporting to an intermediate XML file in the process of translating applications for delivery on the Web. Another new addition to the product, the Universal Media Player, allows a single object to have built-in support for most modern media types. This new Catalog object provides support for all of the standard media formats (AVI, WAV, MIDI) and the media formats supported by the new Windows Media Player (Windows streaming media, MPEG video, QuickTime video, MP3 audio, and others). The RealNetworks RealPlayer G2 (all RealMedia formats, SMIL), the Macromedia Flash Player, and other media file formats are also supported in this new release. ToolBook II Instructor 7.1 is immediately available and is priced at $2,495 for first-time purchases or at an upgrade price for Instructor 6.5 customers of $695 if purchased before October 31, 1999 ($895 after this date). Owners of versions prior to 6.5 may upgrade for $895 as well. www.asymetrix.com
Infodata Systems Inc. announced that James W. Myers has been named to the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer. Steve Samowich, President and CEO of Infodata, made the announcement. Prior to joining Infodata, he was Executive Vice President and General Manager at DynSolutions, Inc., a subsidiary of DynCorp, Reston, Va. Prior to DynSolutions, Myers was co-founder and president of Vantage Technologies, Inc. www.infodata.com
Multicosm Inc. announced version 1.5 of Refindment for Excalibur RetrievalWare 6.7 and a worldwide reseller agreement with Excalibur Technologies.Refindment’s theming and summarization features enables users to create a virtual web of related information that is linked by concept. Refindment version 1.5 features faster theme extraction, an easier to use interface, and tighter integration with RetrievalWare. When used with Excalibur RetrievalWare, Refindment helps to rapidly analyze hundreds of documents and extract the dominant concepts in less than a minute, then stores the resulting concepts in a master index. It summarizes each of the found documents and dynamically attaches hyperlinks to the primary themes in the summaries — allowing a user to jump immediately to the parts of the source document where those themes are mentioned and bypass irrelevant information. Hyperlinks are dynamically inserted into the full documents as well, enabling users to surf through their search results based on shared concepts instead of continually returning to the results list. Refindment is available immediately from Multicosm and is planned for Q4 availability by Excalibur for Excalibur RetrievalWare 6.7. www.multicosm.com
Informatica Corporation and Viador Inc. announced a joint partnership to develop a single, end-to-end, Web-based architecture to provide global businesses with access to critical enterprise data assets. The jointly developed solution, which initially will be targeted at emerging e-business applications, will feature two products for integrating and accessing enterprise data: Informatica’s data-integration platform, anchored by the PowerCenter data-integration hub, and the Viador E-Portal Suite, an enterprise portal that allows users to securely search, access, and distribute business information from any source via a single, personalized view. The Viador and Informatica integration effort will exploit the capabilities of XML. The two company’s products can already exchange metadata through the use of Informatica’s MX (metadata exchange) interface, the data warehousing industry’s first viable solution for exporting metadata to business intelligence reporting and query tools, and enterprise portals. The planned integration of Informatica and Viador products is a logical next step as XML takes center stage and becomes a widely accepted language for exchanging data and metadata among a whole of new class of Web- and e-business-enabled applications. The PowerCenter data-integration hub consolidates data from any source, including ERP systems from SAP and PeopleSoft, and delivers it and the underlying metadata to a data warehouse, data mart or operational data store (ODS). The data can also be written to message queues, flat files and XML files. www.informatica.com, www.viador.com
Engage Technologies, Inc. announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire AdKnowledge Inc, in an all stock transaction valued at approximately $193 million. By integrating Engage’s profile based targeting, AdKnowledge customers will be able to target and analyze campaigns based on profiles of their target audience. AdKnowledge has become a widely used source for marketers targeting online advertising. To date, nearly all such targeting has been based on content specific ad buying. With Engage, AdKnowledge will be able to broaden its offering to include profile based targeting to its customers. Under the terms of the merger and contribution agreement, CMGI will initially acquire control of AdKnowledge through the issuance of approximately $170 million of CMGI common stock, followed by a contribution of AdKnowledge shares held by CMGI and AdKnowledge shareholders to Engage in exchange for approximately $193 million of Engage common stock. The transaction, which will be accounted for as a purchase, is subject to certain conditions, regulatory approval and the shareholder approval of Engage and AdKnowledge. AdKnowledge, which recently filed its S-1 with the SEC, is privately held and will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Engage. The transaction is expected to be completed in late 1999 or early 2000. www.adknowledge.com, www.engage.com, www.cmgi.com.
