Category: Marketing & e-commerce (Page 54 of 77)

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

BroadVision and H&Q Asia Pacific announced the formation of a new company, a Business Services Provider (BSP) to deliver B2B mobile commerce (m-commerce) services to the worldwide wireless market. The joint venture is the first initiative to integrate the explosive wireless market with the global enterprise B2B market. The new company will develop and rapidly deliver a new generation of “small but smart” e-business applications and services that will integrate an enterprise with its mobile workforce and its mobile business end-users. The new company is a joint venture between BroadVision, H&Q Asia Pacific, ACCESS Co. Ltd., a supplier of browser technology for non-PC devices, including NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode phones, and ITOCHU TECHNO-SCIENCE Corporation (CTC), a system integrator and services company, and ITOCHU Corporation, the global company that promotes positive business development in the B2B and wireless fields. The venture will base its offerings on BroadVision One-To-One e-business applications and the company’s next-generation XML content management and XSL device-independent rendering technologies. The new company, tentatively named B-Mobile Corporation is slated to be established October 1, 2000 to provide a service for Internet-based business transactions via wireless networks such as mobile phones and PDAs. The company will also begin development of new applications for mobile B2B e-commerce by combining BroadVision’s technology and ACCESS’s mobile-enabled browser system for the use of client companies inside and outside Japan. The new company will be based in Chiyoda-ward, Tokyo. www.broadvision.com, www.access-us-inc.com, www.ctc-g.co.jp

Sun Microsystems, Inc. and Vignette Corp. announced a comprehensive global agreement, including joint sales, marketing and engineering services, that will provide e-business hardware and software solutions for companies to build successful online businesses. The companies have agreed to jointly develop e-business solutions initially targeting the fast-growing new media and telecommunication markets, including wireless. With this agreement, Sun and Vignette have significantly expanded their relationship to deliver solutions based on Sun’s Sun Enterprise servers, Solaris Operating Environment platform and Java 2, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) technology, and the recently announced Vignette V/5 E-business solutions. Companies will be able to leverage Sun’s Java technology to integrate their existing applications with other third-party applications, including the iPlanet Application Server, through Vignette’s recently introduced V/5 E-business applications. As part of the agreement, the Vignette solution will be incorporated into Sun’s iForce Ready Centers, which will enable customers to gain hands-on experience to help them deploy scalable, extensible portal infrastructures combining e-commerce, relationship management, personalization, content management and workflow features on an e-business platform. www.vignette.com, www.sun.com

SoftQuad Software, Ltd. announced that it has joined the Ariba Inc. supplier enablement initiative and will integrate its products into the Ariba B2B Commerce Platform using the Ariba Commerce Services Network (CSN). SoftQuad’s XML-based content solutions, XMetaL and MarketAgility, combined with the Ariba CSN, provide suppliers with a single, Internet-based point of access and integration with buyers and marketplaces worldwide. Ariba CSN also provides SoftQuad’s customers with efficient trading mechanisms and commerce processes such as systems integration services, global supplier directories, sourcing tools, B2B auctions and reverse auctions, logistics and supplier enablement, electronic payment and streamlined transaction services. Further, SoftQuad will collaborate with Ariba on the continued development of cXML. SoftQuad will use cXML to integrate its B2B solutions with the Ariba B2B Commerce Platform. www.softquad.com

NetGenesis Corp. announced support for analyzing customer behavior over WAP servers, helping e-businesses that market to wireless devices analyze and improve the success of campaigns. NetGenesis’ Wireless InfraMarketing reports enable e-retailers, content providers and financial and B2B sites, to improve wireless marketing campaigns, content and e-commerce programs by analyzing crucial wireless E-metrics and making better business decisions around them. NetGenesis’ InfraMarketing provides a clear snapshot of customer activity. It reveals customer behavior over time and provides predictive analysis, an analytic baseline to enable e-businesses to predict their customers’ activity patterns and help them target their customers more efficiently based on these profiles. With predictive analysis, e-businesses can begin to anticipate what customers may buy and forecast purchase behaviors. InfraMarketing also allows e-businesses to measure InfraMetrics, the key metrics needed to succeed on the Web. InfraMetrics allow e-businesses to drill deeper into customer interests and segments to track individual behaviors and clickstream patterns for more effective marketing campaigns. www.netgen.com

IBM and Vignette Corp. announced a global strategic alliance to meet growing e-marketplace demands in retail, financial and NetGen (dotcom) sectors. The alliance integrates Vignette’s V/5 E-business applications with IBM’s WebSphere e-business platform. Together, the two companies will supply customers with e-business solutions that grow market share, reduce deployment times and provide the infrastructure for each stage of e-business development. The integration will enhance the family of WebSphere products, including WebSphere Commerce Suite and WebSphere Application Server, which currently provide a fully integrated middleware solution. The multi-year agreement includes joint marketing, services and helping Vignette to integrate on WebSphere Application Server. IBM and Vignette’s initial focus will be in the retail, financial and “Netgen” (dot.com) industries, and both plan to expand to other industries in the coming months. The two organizations will jointly market Vignette V/5 E-business applications and the IBM WebSphere Application Server Platform, WebSphere Commerce Suite, IBM’s DB2 Universal Database and are optimized for IBM’s RS/6000 and Netfinity servers. Dedicated engineering, product marketing and quality assurance teams will manage the integration and optimization of the entire integrated e-business solution. The Vignette V/5 E-business applications will fully support the IBM Application Framework for e-business – a roadmap for integrating Internet technologies with traditional information technologies. In addition, IBM Global Services will grow its worldwide services practice focusing on Vignette V/5’s support of eCRM and e-commerce from 100 IBM services professionals to in excess of 500. Prospective customers will be able to visit IBM’s Business Innovation Centers that will feature Vignette V/5 E-business applications. IBM experts in Vignette products will help customers identify, build, integrate, and deploy solutions that meet their specific business needs. The IBM ‘ Vignette alliance is part of a developer initiative through PartnerWorld for Developers in which IBM forms strategic relationships with application developers. Under the initiative, developers gain access to new customers and revenue opportunities through IBM’s extensive marketing, sales, and solutions resources. At the same time, developers lead with IBM’s middleware, server platforms and services. www.ibm.com, www.vignette.com

Vertical Computer Systems Inc. announced the official beta release of two of its MLE (Markup Language Executive) Solutions Suite products: the XML Catalog Enabler Agent and the XML Database Agent. The XML Catalog Enabler Agent is directed toward B2B e-commerce applications, and the XML Database Agent is directed mainly toward internal operations of organizations. Both products enable advanced interoperability in B2B, B2G and B2C e-commerce. They are server-based tools that allow data to be fetched from an SQL relational database via http. Both work on Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Linux. The XML Catalog Enabler Agent will enable vendors to enter the e-procurement business quickly via XML. The general availability for these two products is scheduled for Sept. 30, 2000. www.vcsy.com

Nextron, Inc. announced the availability of Nextron Phase 4, the newest version of its Web content management platform for creating, editing and managing large numbers of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) Web sites. The company also announced the availability of Nextron Applications, a family of e-business applications powered by Nextron Phase 4 that deliver low-cost e-commerce, e-marketing, and mobile business solutions for SMEs worldwide. Nextron Phase 4 and Nextron Applications are tightly integrated and packaged with high-touch professional services from Nextron to deliver a complete e-business solution to the SME marketplace. Nextron sells its products and services to global partners — including carriers, directory publishers (Internet, wireless and print), Internet and Application Service Providers, franchises and multinational corporations — that serve the SME market. Nextron’s global partners integrate the Phase 4 platform into their Internet infrastructure to deliver low-cost, easy-to-use Internet and wireless solutions to their SME customers. Nextron Phase 4 (formerly “ICAS”) is a software platform optimized for addressing the enormous size and demographic complexity of the SME global market. Nextron Phase 4 runs on Solaris servers and Oracle databases, supports multiple languages and currencies, and delivers design, administration and management functionality. Today Nextron also announced that it acquired ImpulseSale.com, a leader in location-based mobile applications, which will allow Nextron to develop and deliver mobile commerce applications for the SME market. Nextron plans to announce the availability of its first mobile application, code-named “Neo,” later this fall. www.nextron.com