WRQ, Inc. and DataChannel, Inc. announced a partnership designed to provide enterprises investing in e-business the ability to extend the usability of legacy data in IBM mainframe, AS/400, UNIX and VAX host applications using XML as their e-business data exchange platform. Through this partnership, enterprises can use WRQ Apptrieve application mining solution to selectively expose valuable data in legacy applications for integration into DataChannel’s XML-based enterprise information portal. WRQ Apptrieve makes it easy to mine legacy applications, preserving their key business logic, and exposing the data via standard object formats such as Javabeans or COM for integration with Web applications — without re-engineering the underlying business processes or host system. WRQ will also provide users the option to expose legacy data via the XML standard for integration with XML frameworks such as DataChannel’s EIP, which enables users to offer a personalized and user-friendly interface to that valuable information. www.datachannel.com, www.wrq.com
Day: February 27, 2000
VSI (V-Systems, Inc.) announced the immediate availability of Breeze XML Studio (Breeze), The E-Business Accelerator — a development environment that binds XML to JavaBeans. Breeze provides Java and XML developers with a natural and productive method for building XML-based B2B and Enterprise Application Integration solutions. Breeze enables Java developers to create, access, and transport XML-based objects through JavaBeans bound directly to XML data elements. XML element and attribute names immediately translate into Java class fields. XML structures then become Java classes. From there, related XML structures emerge as Java packages. A strategic alliance between VSI and Software AG was also announced. Breeze will be integrated and distributed with Software AG’s X-Studio, which is the developer part of Software AG’s XENON architecture for XML based applications. Breeze also provides a Java language interface for all XML messages processed by XENON’s native XML database, Tamino. Breeze XML Studio includes tools to serialize and de-serialize Breeze JavaBeans for both network streams and data-sources. The Breeze Toolkit can exchange these objects via SMTP and POP3 and includes tools for transporting XML objects over HTTP or TCP connections. The Breeze XML Studio development environment is licensed on a per-developer-seat basis. The generated code, which includes the Breeze Toolkit, is licensed based on the intended distribution–whether for a single internal network, as part of an enterprise deployment, or for inclusion in a third-party product. Breeze XML Studio is presently offered direct from VSI in several different licensing configurations with associated fees: Demonstration (free), Developer ($995 per seat), Single-Enterprise Distribution ($5,000), Unlimited Single-Product Distribution ($10,000), and OEM product licenses. With the exception of the Breeze XML Studio Demonstration License, all licenses include one year of maintenance and updates. Breeze XML Studio is available for Microsoft Windows NT, Microsoft Windows 2000, Sun Solaris and Red Hat Linux. www.vsi.com
Fatbrain.com introduced a new way for businesses to manage, market and distribute corporate information. Fatbrain.com’s Information Exchange product suite combines e-commerce, secure digital publishing technology known as eMatter, comprehensive professional bookstore, established print-on-demand infrastructure and distribution and fulfillment services to deliver a complete Web-based solution for outsourcing mission-critical internal and external corporate information. Despite long-rumored predictions of the paperless office, today virtually every corporation manages large amounts of external content, from books to technical and product documentation to a variety of internal corporate documents such as annual reports and employee handbooks, the vast majority of it still distributed on paper. For many corporations, the volume and complexity of managing all of this information is extremely costly and a distraction from their core business expertise. Using the Information Exchange product suite, corporations can now outsource the management, marketing and distribution of this information. Through the Information Exchange solution, all internal and external publications are cataloged, tracked, published and delivered via an easy-to-use, custom intranet-based or Internet Web site. Publications can be quickly and easily accessed through searching and browsing tools and economical delivery options. The Information Exchange works like an online bookstore for corporate publications, newsletters, research reports, marketing and sales brochures, product manuals, white papers, and other internal publications. In addition, the Information Exchange can provide convenient access to a world-class selection of professional books and resources including Web-based training and certification programs — the same selection available from Fatbrain.com’s popular online store. www.fatbrain.com
Moai announced support for XML in its LiveExchange Solutions. In announcing its support, Moai has introduced Dynamic Commerce Markup Language (DCML), a standard XML implementation for online negotiated exchanges that includes auctions, trading exchanges and negotiated procurement markets. This standard allows LiveExchange customers to more easily and quickly develop solutions that exchange data with existing legacy systems and other trading networks. DCML augments Moai’s Java-based OpenAPI as an additional mechanism to access LiveExchange based marketplaces. To add XML support to its LiveExchange solutions, Moai has defined DTDs developed specifically for online auctions, trading exchanges, and procurement markets. For example, DCML defines a document for an auction, which includes a product or service description, the type of auction (e.g. reverse, dutch, sealed bid), any reserve price, etc. Moai has channeled its extensive market expertise into defining its DCML standard for dynamic commerce. By defining and sharing the DCML standard, Moai will enable the interconnection of marketplaces that support XML for data interchange, whether these markets are implemented with LiveExchange or an alternate platform. For example, a customer could purchase items in one market and the information on the products would be automatically sent via DCML to a shipping exchange where carriers could bid on delivering those goods. These types of interconnected negotiated e-Commerce marketplaces streamline a customer’s workflow processes, providing a substantial savings in time and money. www.moai.com
