PanaSite Software Inc. announced the successful beta testing of its new Web-based content management service aids in establishing and managing a dynamic Web presence. PanaSite’s new Web-based subscription service is an online application that helps businesses get — and keep — a handle on issues that are critical to the successful execution of a company’s Internet strategy. Subscribers to the service have access to a customized turnkey Web content management solution that reduces the time and capital investment required to build and maintain a dynamic Web presence. The new PanaSite service eliminates the need for dedicated Web-focused technical specialists and puts control in the hands of the non-technical professionals who understand the content. It also eliminates the need for custom content management software. PanaSite’s application platform contains a set of tools capable of importing assets from an existing Web site anywhere on the Internet and automating a client-specific publishing workflow that tracks new content from creation through approval and deployment. Beta testing is wrapping-up this month for the as yet un-named service. Value-add services include opportunities for expanded exposure and revenue generation via the display and/or resale of a company’s original content to and through third-party Web sites and content distributors; opportunities to integrate interesting and dynamic content from a variety of content feeds for automatic publication to a subscriber’s Web site; and easy-to-use credit card processing, survey and contact information forms for collecting and tracking marketing data and leads, and more. The new Web-based subscription service is expected to be available June/July 2000, and joins PanaSite’s other content management solutions, PanaSite Enterprise and PanaSite Professional. There is a one-time set-up charge and a low monthly fee. PanaSite will also offer a 30-day free trial. www.panasite.com
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Mediasurface Limited announced availability of its third generation software. Mediasurface 3 has rules-based one-to-few personalization, high performance caching for dynamic content delivery, WAP support and e-services integration with localization and syndication providers. For most customers, Mediasurface 3 implements in 6-8 weeks, providing a boost in time to market for business-to-business, business-to-consumer and communities-based Web sites. Mediasurface 3 was designed as the hub of e-business to manage all interactions between people, content and applications with high levels of integration and support. Mediasurface 3 takes the ideal content management infrastructure and expands it to include customer features that enhance delivery of content. The dynamic caching capability enables customers to confidently increase site traffic and content bandwidths in line with demand. By separating content from presentation and structure, Mediasurface 3 returns the ownership of content to the business user. The software delivers ease of use and enables non-technical people to disseminate content with virtually no learning curve. Mediasurface 3 builds on Mediasurface’s existing solution for Web content management. New features of Mediasurface 3 include: Group-based personalization out-of-the-box; Linux 6.1 & WAP support ,High performance caching, localization for multilingual sites, syndication for import and export of content via Mediasurface Integrator & Gateway, and full support for Macromedia Dreamweaver as a Mediasurface template design tool, including access enabled through an HTTP connection. Mediasurface 3 is an enterprise strength application suite – not a toolset or commercialized custom-developed software. Mediasurface 3 integrates with e-commerce, knowledge management, design, localization and personalization software, and is delivered through select, highly trained service partners. In addition, Mediasurface 3 follows previous versions by operating in a multi-server environment where content is shared in real time between multiple Mediasurface servers. This content sharing is controlled by workflow rules and allows content to be synchronized in multiple repositories on multiple physical severs. The three-tiered approach to the Mediasurface product also allows the data repository to be held on separate highly tuned database servers where disk is optimized for access speeds and volumes. Pricing for Mediasurface 3 begins at $100,000 and is available directly from Mediasurface, through alliance partners or through ASP partners including Andel Consulting. www.mediasurface.com
Remedy Corp. and Requisite Technology, Inc. announced a strategic alliance to add Requisite’s e-content tools to the Remedy Purchasing@Work eProcurement solution. Remedy will embed Requisite’s patented BugsEye finding engine and eMerge content management toolset into Remedy Purchasing@Work. BugsEye is an intuitive, natural-language finding engine that lets users quickly find and select the products they need, without forcing them to learn the specialized rules of the underlying data structure. eMerge tools and services enable buyers and suppliers to create and manage dynamic e-catalogs. To help buying organizations realize bottom line savings in record time, Remedy will offer a “quick start” e-content program. Customers will be able to select suppliers for office products, paper, industrial supplies, software and other items from Requisite’s eLeader supplier network. www.requisite.com, www.remedy.com
Bluestone Software, Inc. announced General Availability for Bluestone Universal Business Server for TeB Version 7.0, its 100% Pure Java Application Server deployment engine which is the heart of its Sapphire/Web and its Integration Server, Bluestone XML Suite, as well as the foundation of its newest product line, Total-e-Business platform. Based entirely on Sun’s J2EE (Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition) specification and using XML as its internal communication vehicle, Bluestone Universal Business Server for TeB establishes an infrastructure foundation for enterprise-class e-business applications. Bluestone Universal Business Server for TeB is the next generation of the Sapphire/Universal Business Server, the application deployment architecture that powers the company’s Sapphire/Web Application Server framework. As a result, the Bluestone Universal Business Server for TeB brings performance, scalability, fault tolerance and XML services to the company’s forthcoming Total-e-Business platform editions, including Total-e-Global, Total-e-B2B, Total-e-B2C, Total-e-Wireless, and Total-e-Server, scheduled for release later in Q2 of this year. The J2EE foundation fortifies Bluestone Universal Business Server for TeB with implementations of Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) 1.1, Java Servlets 2.2, and JavaServer Pages (JSP) 1.1, including Taglib support. Bluestone Universal Business Server for TeB also includes a complete implementation of Java Servlets API 2.2 to provide a standard mechanism for building dynamic Web applications that are portable across hardware, Web server, and Application Server platforms. Bluestone Universal Business Server for TeB relies on XML for a number of services, including the persistence map that permanently stores the state of an application. XML gives the Bluestone Universal Business Server for TeB high-performance support for fine-grained objects in an EJB. The Bluestone Universal Business Server for TeB also employs a dynamic XSL engine that lets users automatically detect client device types and generate the proper delivery format, whether it is a cell phone, palmtop device, desktop browser, B2B application, or other client type. Bluestone Universal Business Server for TeB is available today in Sapphire/Web, Bluestone XML Suite, and Total-e-Business.www.bluestone.com
Intel Corporation and Excalibur Technologies Corporation announced that they have signed an agreement to form a new company that will enable owners of branded high-value content, such as sports and entertainment, to produce and securely sell their audio and video content over the Internet. The new company will offer a compelling, one-stop solution with key Internet technologies. Under the terms of the agreement, Intel will contribute its Interactive Media Services division and invest $150 million in exchange for 60 percent of the new company’s equity. Intel will take a 49 percent position in the voting stock of the new company and the balance of its investment in non-voting stock. Excalibur will combine its entire business operations with those of the new company, with Excalibur stockholders receiving 40 percent ownership in the new company in exchange for their Excalibur stock. Excalibur shareholders will receive one share of stock in the new company for each share they hold of Excalibur. Holders of 29 percent of Excalibur’s outstanding voting stock have agreed to vote in favor of the transaction. Other financial details were not disclosed. Compatible technologies and business models do not exist from one company in a fully integrated way that enable branded, valuable content to be delivered to subscribers over the Internet. The new company will seek to solve this problem by combining Excalibur’s market-leading content management technologies for producing valuable media archives with Intel’s patented technology for content protection. The transaction is subject to regulatory review, Excalibur stockholder approval and other normal closing conditions. All other necessary corporate approvals have been obtained by Excalibur and Intel. Completion of the transaction and the new company’s launch is expected in the third quarter of this year. Ronald J. Whittier will resign from Intel to become chairman of the board and CEO of the new company. Patrick C. Condo will become president and COO. www.intel.com, www.excalib.com
NetSanity, Inc. announced an aggressive plan to create a standards-based platform for the delivery of web content to mobile devices. The new technology will deliver a user’s favorite web-based information onto any wireless device that is mobile-Internet ready. This month, Nokia and NetSanity will demonstrate the delivery of Digital Pebbles, or pieces of Internet information, to WAP-enabled mobile phones. NetSanity also announced that over 70 content partners and 1500 affiliates have adopted NetSanity’s XML application, making their content immediately available on the NetSanity SmartBar, NetSanity’s current Windows desktop product — and soon on mobile devices. Over the next few months, NetSanity plans to partner with additional wireless hardware manufacturers and telecom carriers to offer NetSanity technology on a variety of mobile devices. www.netsanity.com, www.nokia.com
Interwoven, Inc. and BEA Systems, Inc. announced an alliance and the integration of Interwoven TeamSite enterprise-class content management software with BEA WebLogic Personalization Server 2.0 and BEA WebLogic Commerce Server 2.0. The integration allows businesses that serve the e-generation to rapidly and reliably create, manage and deliver dynamic, personalized Web content to enrich their customers’ e-commerce experiences. Interwoven TeamSite software includes a workflow engine that enables organizations to develop, manage and ensure the integrity of the content, and streamline complex project management. TeamSite’s content architecture manages the development of all types of Web assets. BEA WebLogic Personalization Server enables companies to apply business rules to customer profile information and to personalize the customer’s Web experience and create dynamic, tailored interfaces. BEA WebLogic Commerce Server provides highly customizable, out-of-the-box e-commerce functionality that is fully Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) compliant. Together, these solutions enable companies to create value for their customers by developing and delivering personalized content within a flexible, extensible e-commerce application. The complete integration package, which includes documentation and pre-configured sample template and workflow, are available today from Interwoven. BEA WebLogic Commerce Server 2.0 and BEA WebLogic Personalization Server 2.0 are available from BEA. www.interwoven.com, www.bea.com
SoftQuad Software, Ltd. announced MarketAgility, an XML-based content solution that gives businesses more power and control over the creation, management and real-time delivery of product information to e-marketplaces and e-procurement systems. MarketAgility provides suppliers with an efficient and cost-effective way to move product information from their enterprises to multiple electronic distribution channels. MarketAgility 1.0, formerly code named Global OnRamp, is scheduled for release in September, 2000. Suppliers until now have had trouble collecting their product information, which has generally been located in disparate sources throughout their enterprises. It’s also been difficult to translate that information into the various distinct formats required by different e-marketplaces. Even after these initial barriers have been overcome, suppliers have still found it hard to maintain up-to-date product and pricing information and to target and differentiate their products across multiple distribution channels. MarketAgility lets suppliers quickly leverage their existing infrastructure and business processes to collect product information from wherever it resides in the enterprise, whether in content management systems, electronic resource planning systems, enterprise databases, or Microsoft Word or Excel files. It then automatically delivers this information in a format that is fully customized for different e-markets in their specific dialect of XML. In addition, MarketAgility allows suppliers to maintain their competitive advantage by rapidly and incrementally updating product and pricing information across all channels. MarketAgility is comprised of three major components: the MarketAgility XML Connector, the MarketAgility XML Server, and the MarketAgility XML Transporter. MarketAgility also incorporates SoftQuad’s XMetaL technology, an enabler for XML content applications. MarketAgility allows content revisions to be made directly within XML. Suppliers can now easily supplement their product data with rich content and better differentiate themselves in e-markets. MarketAgility supports common industry standards such as BizTalk, W3C Schemas, xCBL and cXML. www.softquad.com
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