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

webMethods, Inc. and Oracle Corp. announced a partnership to provide solutions for the rapid deployment of global B2B exchanges. As part of the agreement, webMethods will be a preferred solution provider for integrating buyers and suppliers to trading networks and exchanges built on the Oracle Exchange platform. Oracle and webMethods have integrated the Oracle Exchange platform and webMethods B2B to enable secure, reliable Internet-based delivery of XML messages. Oracle-powered exchanges, including OracleExchange.com, will use this integrated message hub to integrate buyers and suppliers. webMethods B2B will route mission-critical business documents, such as purchase orders and order confirmations, through the Oracle-powered exchanges to enable real-time business transactions among diverse trading partners. By using webMethods B2B to provide an integration solution, Oracle will be able to build a solution that is easily replicated across all of its B2B exchanges, which include industry specific exchanges, company branded exchanges and OracleExchange.com. WebMethods will provide integration support and services to buyers and suppliers connecting to Oracle Exchange through their webMethods’ B2B Rapid Integration Team, which includes the Internet industry’s leading systems integrators. This rapid deployment strategy provides customers with an experienced implementation team dedicated to providing cost-effective solutions for implementing B2B e-commerce initiatives. Customers will have their choice of integration firms to help connect to any number of Oracle Exchange marketplaces. www.webMethods.com, www.oracle.com

Adobe Systems Incorporated announced the immediate availability of the Adobe Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Viewer, a browser extension that enables current versions of popular web browsers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator to render SVG. The Adobe SVG Viewer is included with Adobe Illustrator 9.0 software, which began shipping June 2, and is also available for download from Adobe’s web site at: www.adobe.com/svg/viewer/install/. SVG is the W3C’s emerging, open language for describing two-dimensional graphics in XML. Because it expresses vector graphics in XML and is compatible with other W3C initiatives, SVG’s impact on the design, development and ultimately the customer experience of highly sophisticated e-commerce web sites could be profound. Using SVG, web site architects enjoy a more compelling authoring environment for creating rich, multi-channel, dynamically generated content. Graphics can be customized, modified, scripted, and adapted during design or at run-time by a server, then distributed in an optimized form to multiple platforms. SVG also integrates seamlessly with existing Web workflow and standards, allowing IS professionals to incorporate content from numerous back-end databases, servers and e-commerce engines without the limitations of a proprietary data format. Most importantly, customers will have a more compelling web experience, including faster downloads, better navigation and true interactivity. SVG is being developed by the W3C and its members, who include Adobe, Apple, Corel Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, IBM, Kodak, Macromedia, Inc., Microsoft Corp., Netscape Communications, Quark Inc., Sun Microsystems, Inc., and Xerox Corporation. The specification is currently in its eighth working draft and Last Call phase. The most recent public draft was released on March 3, 2000. For more information on SVG, please visit the W3C web site at: www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/. The Adobe SVG Viewer ships with Adobe Illustrator 9.0 software and is expected to be included in upcoming versions of additional Adobe products, including Adobe LiveMotion. It is also available for download from the Adobe.com web site at: www.adobe.com/svg/viewer/install/. Adobe is providing an SVG overview and tutorial with numerous SVG examples at: www.adobe.com/svg/.

XMLSolutions Corporation announced a partnership with bTrade.com, Inc. Together the companies will expand their Global 2000 product and service offerings through shared technologies and systems integration. XMLSolutions’ XEDI Translator provides an expansive, completely customizable EDI solution, expanded trading communities and cost reduction in trade transaction process and fulfillment. XEDI supports every ANSI X12 and EDIFACT document produced by major EDI Translators from GE Global Exchange Services, Harbinger, Sterling Commerce, and SPS Commerce. bTrade.com offers a comprehensive suite of services and solutions that can be integrated easily into existing, new and emerging business processes. Their component-friendly approach to e-business technology creates an optimal “plug and play” environment that maximizes customer flexibility and freedom of choice. XMLSolutions and bTrade.com will deliver a comprehensive e-business network that will allow customers to rapidly integrate 100% of their customers and suppliers into a secure digital trading community. The combined solution will offer guaranteed message delivery and complete customer profile capability, including support for open standards and protocols, such as RosettaNet, xCBL, cXML, ebXML and FpML and BizTalk. www.xmls.com, www.bTrade.com

Newmarket International, Inc. announced the submission of a complete, end-to-end XML schema for MeetingBroker.com, its new Web-based service that facilitates the open exchange of sales information among meeting planners, site selection or e-RFP sites, hotels, and destinations. The schema will work with the BizTalk Framework, an e-commerce framework that provides a set of implementation guidelines that facilitate open integration using Internet standards. MeetingBroker.com translates leads sent from e-RFP sites and deposits them directly into sales automation applications installed at individual hotels and destinations. MeetingBroker.com employs an open bi-directional architecture based on XML. In 1999, the HITIS (Hospitality Industry Technology Integration Standards) Advisory Committee and the OTA (OpenTravel Alliance) endorsed XML as the primary standard for platform mapping. The MeetingBroker.com schema utilizes XML and is available on the BizTalk web site at: www.biztalk.org, www.newsoft.com

POET Software announced a third major release of its popular B2B eCatalog management solution. Targeted specifically for the emerging class of eSuppliers, POET eCatalog Suite Supplier Resident Edition is a comprehensive supply-side solution for creating, managing, and distributing custom eCatalogs to customers, eProcurement networks and eMarketplaces. The release of POET eCatalog Suite Supplier Resident Edition expands catalog management with a browser based interface for online access by buyers to manage their eCatalog requirements, an expanded schema for multi-supplier aggregation, and complete scheduling capabilities across POET eCS’ range of functions. For suppliers using SAP’s R/3, tailored data extraction has also been added. POET eCS supports all major eCatalog exchange formats as well as data export to websites and print catalog applications. Using POET eCS, suppliers import content to a central eCS data repository, or “master catalog” of products. Buyer profiles store each recipient’s preferred catalog content, contract pricing, and preferred commodity codification system, which are customized to reflect the supplier’s specific attribute, media, and industry requirements. A powerful transformation engine creates custom eCatalogs in all major catalog formats, including xCBL, cXML, and BME-CAT. For other XML and flat file formats, the Catalog Developer’s Kit (CDK) facilitates rapid creation, customization and deployment to ensure all customer requirements are met. With POET eCS, each eCatalog is customized for the user, destination, and protocol. POET eCS Supplier Resident Edition will be available in mid- June with pricing starting at $60,000. www.poet.com

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