Category: Marketing & e-commerce (Page 56 of 77)

Vignette Corporation and OnDisplay, Inc. announced that they have signed a definitive merger agreement under which Vignette will issue 1.58 shares of its stock for each outstanding share of OnDisplay. The combination of Vignette’s V/5 suite and OnDisplay’s XML-based business-to-business infrastructure products will create a comprehensive offering for companies building businesses online. OnDisplay’s B2B infrastructure products enable organizations to integrate more closely with their customers, suppliers and business partners through the real-time exchange of information and transactions. OnDisplay’s XML technology allows critical business information — such as purchase orders, inventory status checks, invoices and product catalog data — to be integrated, aggregated and exchanged between multiple suppliers and distribution partners quickly and efficiently. This functionality increases a business’s online selling effectiveness and extends its trading networks to suppliers and vertical marketplaces through secure, guaranteed online connections. Together, Vignette and OnDisplay will offer eBusiness applications that power automated cross-enterprise transactions and highly personalized end-user interaction. B2B commerce requires automation of business transactions between trading partners and integration of back-office systems with Web-based commerce systems. For example, purchase orders implemented as cXML based transactions or connections to ERP systems using standard XML interfaces will increasingly be required for online marketplaces and the companies who wish to participate in them. Combining the business process automation capabilities of OnDisplay with the real-time personalization, analysis and content management capabilities of Vignette’s V/5 eBusiness platform will enable companies to tightly coordinate their suppliers and distributors to create true “collaborative” commerce. With the acquisition, Vignette will have approximately 2,000 employees, 870 customers and global operations — from the U.S. to South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. In a stock-for-stock, tax-free transaction, each outstanding share of OnDisplay will be exchanged for 1.58 shares of Vignette. Based on fully diluted shares outstanding and both companies’ closing price as of Friday, May 19, this transaction represents a purchase price of approximately $1.7 billion. Vignette will account for the transaction using purchase accounting and expects to close the transaction in the third quarter, subject to approval by OnDisplay’s stockholders and other customary closing conditions. www.vignette.com, www.ondisplay.com

Rational Software and Commerce One, Inc. announced a UML (Unified Modeling Language) for XML schema mapping specification. The Rational Software and Commerce One joint collaboration provides a standard method to dramatically reduce the development time and increase the quality of schema-based, XML e-commerce applications. UML is poised to become the industry-standard language for specifying, visualizing, constructing, and documenting software systems. XML schema is emerging as a W3C recommendation for the definition of XML and is believed to provide a safer and more reliable way to define XML messages for use in e-commerce systems. By adding mechanisms for strong data validation, inheritance and other object-oriented structures not present in the DTD, developers can have a more efficient way to visually model e-business solutions. The UML profile announced today would provide developers with a systematic, graphical methodology for creating XML schemas. The UML for XML Schema Mapping Specification is available at Commerce One’s Web site at www.commerceone.com/xml/sox/index.html and Rational’s Web site at www.rational.com/uml/index.jtmpl

Arbortext, Inc. announced the availability of Arbortext’s Epic Editor and Epic Editor LE now with new support for Oracle Internet File System (iFS). Customers can use the combination of Arbortext’s technology and Oracle iFS as a content repository, allowing companies to deliver more personalized, dynamic and easily searchable content for e-publishing, e-commerce and B2B e-marketplaces. The combination of Arbortext’s industry-leading XML technology and Oracle Internet File System means that customers now have access to a complete XML content management solution. Arbortext’s Epic Editor and Epic Editor LE support Oracle iFS through the addition of both server-side and client-side components and will be available July 2000. Arbortext’s pricing for the Repository Adapter to connect Epic Editor and Epic Editor LE to Oracle iFS starts at $400 per user. www.arbortext.com

SoftLock.com, Inc. announced that it has acquired Chili Pepper, Inc., an advertising agency and consulting firm. The acquisition enables SoftLock.com to leverage Chili Pepper’s online marketing expertise to further expand SoftLock.com’s existing eMerchandising capabilities. SoftLock.com will capitalize on Chili Pepper’s expertise in strategic brand consulting, direct marketing, consumer research, media buying and creative services, intensifying SoftLock.com’s position as a market maker for premium content. The integration of Chili Pepper’s marketing services with SoftLock.com’s existing services, digital rights management and commerce-enabled distribution, positions SoftLock.com to be a comprehensive solution for publishers of premium content. Packaging, positioning and promoting digital goods online requires highly targeted direct marketing expertise. The SoftLock.com market making approach allows customers to merchandise their premium digital goods to highly targeted consumer segments quickly and efficiently. SoftLock.com’s patented combination of technology and services provide a comprehensive solution to marketing valuable digital goods, combining content security, targeted content merchandising and a complete multi-channel eCommerce distribution system. The combination of SoftLock.com and Chili Pepper teams will result in a strategic fusion that increases the bandwidth of the total organization and further differentiates SoftLock.com as a market maker for premium content versus its technology-based, security-focused competitors. www.softlock.com

eXcelon Corporation introduced two new products that lower the barrier to participate in B2B eCommerce and create information-rich B2B portals. eXcelon’s B2B Portal Server is a new platform that automatically collects and publishes business content from anywhere in a partner network to a central, interactive eBusiness site. Xpress, part of the eXcelon B2B Integration Server product family, is new B2B technology that quickly connects an organization to thousands of partners to create cross-organization business processes that increase revenue, improve operational efficiency and allow end-to-end visibility and control of business operations. To provide a central location for products, services and information stored in a partner network, organizations can deploy eXcelon’s new B2B Portal Server. The Portal Server aggregates, manages and publishes content from the partner network to create highly interactive, personalized eBusiness sites that connect partners to live business information. Highly customizable, the Portal Server enables organizations to create a central, customizable location for viewing anything from product catalogs to more industry-specific content such as insurance policies and financial records. Based on XML technology, the Portal Server quickly integrates with a B2B network, providing a central viewing point for critical business data. With its data aggregation, search and personalization capabilities, users across the entire partner network gain increased efficiency, the means to make better business decisions and the ability to collaborate with partners all over the world. By providing partners with multiple levels of integration with the hub organization, eXcelon Xpress enables partners of all sizes and technical ability to integrate with a partner network with little or no investment in additional technology. When installed at the hub organization, as part of eXcelon’s B2B Integration Server, Xpress enables partners to log into the partner network with only a browser or handheld device. With the browser, partners can submit sales forecasts, initiate purchase orders and participate in any cross-business processes defined by the partner network. This option requires no technology investment from partners. For partners that would like to increase their level of integration and automation with the hub organization, Xpress can be installed on the partner side. eXcelon Xpress and the B2B Portal Server are available now for Windows NT and Solaris. The B2BPS is expected to be available for AIX and HP-UX in Q2 2000. www.exceloncorp.com

XMLSolutions Corporation announced the immediate availability of Vocabulary Builder for E- Business. Vocabulary Builder is a program designed to bridge a company’s existing business vocabulary to today’s e-commerce language while maintaining contextual definitions on both ends. XMLSolutions’ Vocabulary Builder allows companies to conduct business using the same syntax it has always used by XML-izing existing business vocabulary, semantics unchanged, so that the company can communicate electronically. Vocabulary Builder extends business operations across the Internet without revolutionizing core business processes. XMLSolutions utilizes Schema Central and their META-X Methodology to identify corporate metadata crucial to the successful implementation of Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) and e-business initiatives. The Vocabulary Builder program pinpoints strategic business information and executes a crucial step in developing e-commerce solutions. Creating DTDs that represent key business information is a primary function of Vocabulary Builder. www.xmls.com

Delano Technology Corporation announced the release of the Delano Component Pack for XML, which extends the Delano e-Business Interaction Suite to provide native support for XML and the standard XML document formats used in B2B applications. By leveraging XML, the Delano Component Pack for XML increases the level of integration between Delano e-business applications and enterprise applications, including ERP and legacy systems, enabling enterprises to reduce the costs and increase the effectiveness of interacting with business partners over the web, e-mail, and other communication channels. The Delano Component Pack for XML, coupled with the Delano e-Business Interaction Suite allows companies to leverage existing databases, enterprise applications and systems infrastructure to automatically exchange data between disparate and/or legacy applications, as well as supplier and partner systems. Through the efficient use and integration of XML and e-business applications, an enterprise can significantly reduce the costs associated with B2B interactions via EDI or manual processes. The Delano Component Pack for XML facilitates commerce interactions between trading partners, enabling buyers and suppliers to tighten relationships and extend trading opportunities. Leveraging the open nature of the Delano e-Business Interaction Suite, the Delano Component Pack for XML provides support for all current and emerging B2B communication standards, including BizTalk, OASIS, cXML, xCBL, OBI, W3C XML, and RosettaNet. This enables enterprises to extract and understand data from these XML standards to further support the automated exchange of B2B documents, such as purchase orders and invoices, through electronic channels. The Delano Component Pack for XML is immediately available from Delano, or a Delano authorized reseller. www.delanotech.com