WebCollage unveiled WebCollage Syndicator, a software solution that lets companies expand their reach and interact with users not only on their own sites but wherever they are on the Web. Designed to ensure rapid time to market for premium partnerships, Syndicator lets e-businesses package live and complete Web-based business applications as “e-services,” then syndicates them by placing them directly on partner Web sites. With WebCollage Syndicator companies can define e-services that capture their entire Web experience. Business partners can then exchange and incorporate all the relevant e-services that their users need to complete specific tasks into one place. WebCollage Syndicator replaces today’s phenomenon of sending users to other sites in order to access services and applications by bringing these applications to where users already are. WebCollage Syndicator applies dynamic Web site integration. When users visit a Web site, it pulls and “blends” syndicated e-services into the pages presented to users. Any Web page that is fused together dynamically from multiple sources would still appear to users as a single uniform page. WebCollage Syndicator’s unique capabilities then enable users to carry out complete Web transactions from multiple sources without leaving the site they are at. Other Web integration approaches, often using XML, focus on data exchange but do not address the sharing of an application’s user interface and Web experience. Companies can spend months re-building a partner application’s user experience into their own site, slowing time to market. Syndicator, using WebCollage’s Web Services Markup Language (WSML) technology, is designed specifically to overcome these limitations. It powers the syndication of complete e-services to multiple partner sites while maintaining the user experience and without requiring the partners to install any software. WebCollage Syndicator is available from WebCollage, Inc. The license fee for the Syndicator software is based on the number of partners served with e-services. Pricing starts at $50,000. www.webcollage.com
Year: 2000 (Page 18 of 63)
Members of the Global Commerce Initiative (GCI) announced plans to use ebXML as the backbone of their new data exchange standard for business-to-business trade in the consumer goods industry. ebXML, an initiative of the United Nations CEFACT and OASIS, will provide the technical infrastructure for the Global Commerce Internet Protocol, a set of recommendations governing the management of data for Internet communication and other B2B interactions. GCI members include 40 major manufacturers and retailers as well as eight trade associations, which in total represent 850,000 companies around the world. Exchanges such as Transora, the WorldWide Retail Exchange, GlobalNetXchange, and CPGmarket.com are taking active roles in the GCI development. EAN and the UCC have made a major contribution to GCI’s effort to quickly standardize Internet trading in the consumer products industry with the first in a series of electronic commerce standards. In order to support the GCI Internet Protocol, the UCC and EAN undertook to provide GCI with a series of electronic commerce standards for the following processes: Item Synchronization, Party, Simple Purchase Order and Dispatch (Advance Ship Notice). This project encompassed the creation of business models, global data dictionaries, and XML schemas. GCI proof-of-concept trials are underway and the organization plans to demonstrate its protocol at the upcoming ebXML meeting in Tokyo, November 6, 2000. www.ebXML.org
Progress Software Corporation and Commerce One, Inc. announced that Commerce One has selected Progress SonicMQ E-Business Messaging server for Commerce One’s MarketSite Portal Solution. SonicMQ provides a scalable and reliable transport for the exchange of business-critical information over the Internet, which helps companies move global trade to the Web. Messages, which can range from simple purchase orders to complex CAD documents, may be instantly and securely delivered over the Internet by using sophisticated routing algorithms to determine the fastest delivery path and ensure high system availability. As new trading partners or communities are added to the Commerce One Global Trading Web, an extensive worldwide B2B trading community, the SonicMQ-based infrastructure provides access to all new destinations without requiring any local configuration or application changes. MarketSite Portal Solution allows corporations and Internet market makers to build open electronic marketplaces and link them to the Commerce One Global Trading Web. This set of products and services enables real-time, interactive transactions between trading partners, suppliers, service providers and market makers. Through the use of SonicMQ and an XML-based transaction infrastructure, value-added business services such as auctions, content management, payment services and logistics can be rapidly deployed and leveraged on e-marketplaces. www.commerceone.com, www.progress.com
webMethods, Inc. unveiled webMethods for Trading Networks, a software package that will provide Global 2000 companies and B2B marketplaces with a packaged infrastructure for building, managing and analyzing B2B trading networks. With webMethods for Trading Networks, organizations now have a point-and-click solution for profiling partner interactions, defining document exchange, and establishing business process rules between companies. In addition, this product offers operational and business-level views of the flow of information through the network, allowing companies to understand the business impact and R.O.I. of their entire range of B2Bi initiatives. webMethods for Trading Networks bundles a configurable trading network infrastructure with graphical monitoring, management and analysis tools. With streamlined profiling capabilities and robust operational management tools to maintain the health of the network, webMethods for Trading Networks enables integration of trading partners regardless of their level of technological sophistication. Additionally, webMethods for Trading Networks offers visibility into an organization’s trading network processes and adds intelligence to their B2B initiatives through sophisticated data analysis. webMethods for Trading Networks is priced on a per CPU basis with prices starting at $350,000 and will be generally available at the end of September. www.webMethods.com
W3C announced the advancement of the XML Base specification to Candidate Recommendation status. The document describes a mechanism for providing base URI services to XLink and to other XML applications benefiting from control over relative URIs. The Candidate Recommendation period ends 8 December, 2000, when the XML Linking Working Group expects to deliver proof of use of XML Base in new specifications, and a report of successful XML Base implementations in applications based on them. Implementors are invited to contact the Working Group chairs to participate. Comments may be sent to the public mailing list www-xml-linking-comments@w3.org. Also, the fourth Working Draft of Canonical XML Version 1.0 has been released, addressing comments received during Last Call that ended 28 July. It is the goal of this specification to establish a method for determining whether two documents are identical, or whether an application has not changed a document, except for transformations permitted by XML 1.0 and Namespaces in XML. Please send comments to the editor with a cc: to the public mailing list w3c-ietf-xmldsig@w3.org. The DOM Working Group has published the first public Working Drafts of the Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3. The DOM is a platform- and language-neutral interface that allows programs and scripts to dynamically access and update the content, structure, and style of documents. Comments are invited on the public mailing list www-dom@w3.org. www.w3c.org
Optika Inc. and webMethods, Inc. announced a partnership to enhance Optika’s web collaboration and resolution offerings. Optika will use webMethods’ end-to-end B2Bi Solutions to build the Acorde XML Gateway, a conduit for dynamic exchange of B2B transaction information. Through this partnership, Optika will leverage the open architecture of webMethods B2Bi solutions to create an XML gateway that allows real-time direct exchange of transaction information between disparate systems both internal and external to the organization, facilitating quick and efficient resolution of B2B transaction discrepancies. webMethods has relationships with B2B software providers and offers pre-built adapters to their systems — the same systems that Optika’s existing and potential customers use to operate their businesses. Through this partnership, Optika and webMethods will pursue joint sales and marketing opportunities with both new and existing clients in a wide variety of industries. www.webMethods.com, www.optika.com
Documentum announced enhancements to DocControl Manager (DCM), a controlled content services option for their content management platform, Documentum 4i eBusiness Edition. Specifically, the enhancements to DCM ensure the authenticity of electronic content and the integrity of business processes associated with content creation, validation and approval, management, and distribution — key requirements in meeting the compliance demands of securities regulations, food and drug regulations, environmental agencies, patent regulations, and international quality standards. Typical controlled content expedited with the product include standard operating procedures (SOPs), specification sheets, Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs), and engineering change notices (ECNs). Companies can now provide secured access to the most current versions of controlled content at any specified location. This is achieved using a defined change management process to assure the content is always reviewed and approved by the appropriate personnel. The solution also ensures that content release is always a consistent, tightly managed, and documented process. In addition, DCM will now integrate with Documentum’s Content Authentication Services, another add-on to 4i eBusiness Edition, to support electronic signatures and generate detailed audit trails for the creation, modification and approval of controlled content. The new product also provides centralized print control functionality, like restricting printing, tracking printed copies, and enabling recall of printed copies. www.documentum.com
A broad coalition of business and technology companies announced the Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) Project, a cross-industry initiative designed to accelerate and broaden B2B integration and commerce on the Internet. American Express Co., Andersen Consulting, Ariba Inc., Bowstreet, Cargill Inc., Clarus Corp., Commerce One Inc., CommerceQuest Inc., Compaq Computer Corp., CrossWorlds Software Inc., Dell Computer Corp., Descartes, Extricity Software Inc., Fujitsu Ltd., Great Plains, i2, IBM Corp., Internet Capital Group, Loudcloud Inc., match21, Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., Microsoft Corp., NEON, Nortel Networks Corp., NTT Communications Corp., Rational Software Corp., RealNames Corp., Sabre Holdings Corp., SAP AG, Sun Microsystems Inc., TIBCO Software Inc., Ventro Corp., Versata Inc., VeriSign, VerticalNet Inc. and webMethods Inc. are among the first to endorse and collaborate on UDDI. Growth of B2B commerce on the Internet faces challenges in scaling to universal adoption due to the multitude of technologies and standards used by businesses and e-marketplaces. UDDI will address these challenges by providing two things: First, UDDI defines a platform-neutral set of specifications to enable businesses to describe themselves and indicate their preferred means of conducting e-commerce transactions. Second, UDDI includes the shared operation of a globally distributed UDDI Business Registry. Through the UDDI Business Registry, companies publish information describing how they conduct commerce and search for other businesses that provide the capabilities, Web services or products they need. The goal of the UDDI Project is to offer the basic infrastructure for dynamic, automated integration of all e-commerce transactions and Web services. Similar to the impact HTML had for consumers on the Internet by providing a common Web site publishing format that fueled the Internet explosion, UDDI aims to make business-to-business commerce adoption universal by providing businesses with a common mechanism to publish Web services on the Internet. The UDDI Project is an open industry initiative in which any organization can participate and implement the specifications. The specifications build on core Internet standards — including TCP/IP, HTML and XML — and are independent of any underlying platform, language, object model, business application or marketplace. It is the intention of the UDDI members to transition the specifications to an industry standards body in the next 18 months. The open draft of the UDDI specification can be found at www.uddi.org. The final specification will be available shortly after public comments and feedback are incorporated. The UDDI Business Registry provides an implementation of the UDDI specification. Any company can access the registry on the Internet, enter the description of its business, reach a UDDI site, or search through all business services listed in the UDDI registry. There is no cost to access information in the registry. Although based on XML, the registry can also describe services implemented using HTML, Java, CORBA, Microsoft Windows DNA, or any other type of programming model or language. The registry is implemented as a Web service and thus can be discovered, integrated and programmatically invoked using XML like any other Web service. Beta implementations of the UDDI Business Registry will be available from Ariba, IBM and Microsoft within 30 days. These implementations will interoperate with each other, ensuring that information registered at one site is shared with all other operator registries. Other interoperable implementations are expected in the future. www.uddi.org
