The Open Financial Exchange (OFX) Consortium announced the public availability of the OFX 2.0.2 XML Schema. The new OFX 2.0.2 XML Schema is compliant with the W3C’s XML Schema Recommendation, 2 May 2001. It complements the existing OFX 2.0.2 specification and DTD to enable software developers to utilize the latest in XML technology. Additionally, the new OFX XML Schema provides a clear expansion path to allow OFX to support other XML technologies such as SOAP and WSDL. It also expands OFX to support account aggregation in a manner that conforms to the latest BITS Phase II Aggregation guidelines. OFX can support connectivity within the systems of the financial institutions. The OFX XML schema allows intra-enterprise-oriented tools to be developed using XML technology that, while dedicated to internal purposes, also adheres to an industry standard. This helps assure interoperability with other internal and external systems. The OFX 2.0.2 XML Schema was developed by the OFX Web services working group chaired by Business Logic. Other key contributors were Intuit, Microsoft and Citigroup. The consortium, which includes Intuit Inc., Microsoft, CheckFree Corp., Citigroup, TD Waterhouse and Corrillian Corp., has made the new schema available for review and is requesting that comments be submitted. www.ofx.net

A2i, Inc. announced xCat will immediately support the JSR 168 portlet interface standard, as well as the portal environments, including IBM WebSphere Portal. Each of the portlets in A2i’s library provides specific capabilities and user interface for accessing any data stored in the xCat system, is fully adaptive to the schema structure of the xCat catalog repository to which it is connected, and provides a window into the repository by connecting to a particular data source. Portlets can be configured and assembled into portal pages that are both editable and searchable in multiple dimensions without writing code. In addition, all of the portlets feature the multidimensional pick-list limiting, where each portlet is search-state aware and collaborative with other A2i portlets on the page, and is dynamically updated with each selection to reflect the current search constraints and corresponding results set. A2i’s suite of portlets also includes support for illustrated parts catalogs with exploded view diagrams and hotspots drill down navigation, capabilities that have already been incorporated into IBM’s vertical market solution for the automotive market. www.a2i.com

Vignette Corp. announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Tower Technology Pty Ltd. The acquisition will bring together content management, collaboration and portal solutions with integrated enterprise document and records management solutions to offer an enterprise content management solution upon which to base and manage enterprise Web initiatives. Vignette will pay $125 million, comprised of $45 million in cash and $80 million in Vignette stock; the stock portion of the transaction equates to approximately 29.8 million shares. Tower Technology has three primary products: Tower IDM – a Web-enabled, document processing system for managing unstructured business information, including images, forms, computer-generated reports, statements and invoices, office documents and e-mail; Tower Seraph – a records management solution; and Tower WebCapture – which provides the ability to capture and aggregate the content that constitutes an online transaction and to automatically create a permanent, unalterable visual transaction log and audit trail. www.vignette.com, www.TowerTech.com

Day IBM Germany have signed a cooperation for the German, Austrian, and Swiss markets. This cooperation will bring together a complementary offering of Day’s software and IBM’s consulting and integration services to assist organizations with their e-business and content management initiatives. The IBM service unit Business Consulting Services will establish industry specific e-business applications. Furthermore, the cooperation respectively the comprehensive solution portfolio will be accompanied by joint marketing activities. www.ibm.com, www.day.com

Ektron, Inc., added a new editing tool and platform support to the Ektron CMS200 and CMS300 content management solutions. Both CMS products are now available for the Macintosh platform and include a redlining versioning tool. Ektrons eWebDiff content comparison tool easily and clearly shows the difference between two versions of a content block in Ektron CMS. This detailed tracking feature, similar to the “track changes” command in Microsoft Word, is a tool that ensures accountability throughout the content editing process. Redlining highlights modified content for ease of review. Users editing or approving a content block can compare the latest version to a previously published version, and compare historical versions to view changes made over time. www.ektron.com

Percussion Software announced new enhancements across its product suite, including: Lyrix 2, a J2EE/.Net integration product for Domino, which is scheduled for release in March. New features include bi-directional support for Content Services, giving users the ability to submit content changes from target applications to Domino applications, and Single Sign On, which allows users to sign in to a non-Domino system based on their security (ACLs) from Domino; and ServerAdmin Plus V8.5, part of the suite of Power Tools for Lotus Domino, also scheduled for release in March. New features in the Client Manager module enable automation of special projects such as: server consolidation, renaming and decommissioning servers as well as new server setups. Additional new features in the Client Manager allow administrators to manage end users’ clients remotely, including management of desktop icons, replicator pages, bookmarks, location documents, connection documents, and Notes.ini files. Version 8.5 also provides new database document migration, and the addition of over 40 new parameters to the popular NSF Search module, including advanced replication, document locking and full-text index settings. www.percussion.com

BlackHawk Information Services, Inc. announced the availability of BlackHawk Web Site Manager, an enterprise software solution for small and medium-sized companies and organizations that rely on their web sites to generate revenue. With this system, customers can develop and/or change web content with the ease of using a word processing application. BlackHawk makes web site maintenance possible for smaller organizations that cannot afford to hire programmers to make routine content changes to their web site. BlackHawk Web Site Manager is available and can be purchased or leased via an ASP service model. www.blackhawkis.com

Optika Inc. announced the availability of Acorde version 4.0. The new version delivers more than 40 product enhancements, including a fully integrated records management solution, additional Web Services capabilities, improved document versioning, integration with EMC Centera WORM (Write Once Read Many) storage devices, and several Web client enhancements. Acorde 4.0 provides a fully integrated, DoD 5015.2-certified records management solution. Acorde 4.0 also supports the EMC Centera Compliance Edition storage devices, which when used in conjunction with Acorde Records Management, enable customers to meet the requirements for SEC Rule 17a-4, DoD 5015.2, and 21 CFR Part 11. The Acorde document versioning functionality has also been enhanced to provide major and minor version tracking for all documents stored within Acorde, enabling a mechanism for tracking the evolution of a document from creation through multiple revisions. The enhanced Web client adds new Web administrative options, custom Web tools, and the Acorde Web Management Dashboard. The dashboard is a stand-alone Microsoft .NET-based Web application that provides an interface for analyzing the usage of various functions within the Acorde system. www.optika.com