Category: Marketing & e-commerce (Page 60 of 77)

POET Software announced it will incorporate support for the Microsoft BizTalk Framework into its eCatalog Suite (eCS). By making eCS compatible with the BizTalk specification, POET becomes one of the first data management providers to utilize an XML message-passing approach to tie eProcurement systems together. Further, supporting BizTalk in POET’s eCatalog Suite will simplify the management of electronic catalog data for suppliers to eProcurement systems, guaranteeing secure exchange of data between online trading partners, and enhancing the ROI of integrating such systems. POET eCS simplifies supply-side management of electronic catalogs by automating many of the resource intensive steps required to assemble, manage, cleanse, customize, transform and transmit eCatalogs to buyers and Net Market Makers. Unlike B2C eCommerce, B2B requires significant customization of the data for each buyer and Net Market Maker. POET eCS enables the supplier to automatically customize the eCatalog content for each buyer through a rule-based solution. POET eCS provides suppliers with a self-service solution for all their eCatalog needs, including transformation into any XML dialect or legacy data format allowing access to any form of XML regardless of origin. www.poet.com

The Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 is accelerating its processes, expanding its reach to include XML and object oriented electronic data interchange (OO-EDI) and collaborating with related standards development initiatives. ASC X12’s collaborative efforts with e-commerce organizations will help support the requirements of a broad base of users by bringing together the EDI foundation with XML development. To accomplish these objectives, the committee focused at its recent ASC X12 meeting on refining the goals of the newly created XML Task Group, which is charged with providing X12 input into complementary XML initiatives. This group covers the breadth of XML technical work and facilitates a forum for industry experts to address similar initiatives. In a parallel move, the X12 Committee actively participates in and formally endorses the Electronic Business XML (ebXML) initiative, which is working to provide an open XML-based infrastructure enabling the global use of electronic business information in an interoperable, secure and consistent manner by all involved parties. ASC X12 will pursue its XML development efforts within the framework being defined by ebXML. Furthermore, the committee encourages XML education and the development of emerging business requirements. By offering its expertise on “Procurement Using a Purchasing Card as Payment Method,” the committee completed work on the OO-EDI standards pilot project, demonstrating a next generation of EDI utilizing unified modeling language methodology. The committee will continue to research and develop core components for plug-and-play solutions that utilize OO-EDI, XML, and other emerging syntaxes. www.x12.org

Data Junction Corporation announced general availability of XML Junction. This major new release enables e-Commerce and Business Integration professionals to XML-enable virtually any application or data source for a full range of e-Commerce integration, application integration and B2B data exchange projects. The product features automated creation of DTDs and XML documents as well as myriad data-mapping and data- manipulation capabilities. XML Junction is available only as a download at www.xmljunction.net, and is free to download until July 31, 2000. The product contains online documentation and tutorials. Once this promotion has ended, XML Junction will sell for $895. XML Junction leverages Data Junction’s drag-and-drop interface and integration engine to rapidly map and transform more than 100 application and data formats to XML. DTDs and XML documents are automatically created with point-and-click ease, allowing data stored in any format (EDI, XML, SQL, Cobol, HL7, SAP, etc.) to be published to the web or exchanged with any external application — even data stored in complex hierarchical structures. Furthermore, data stored in XML documents and traditional applications can be manipulated to ensure compliance with any standard, such as those utilized by BizTalk, Schema.net, Ariba’s Commerce XML and Financial Products Markup Language (FpML), as well as non-XML business-to-business standards such as Open Buying on the Internet (OBI) and RosettaNet. www.datajunction.com

GE Global Exchange Services (GE) announced the commercial availability of native XML support within the AppFusion product suite of integration brokers, which includes GE InterLinx, Application Integrator, and the Enterprise System. This announcement follows months of beta testing with several clients. The addition of XML support allows the AppFusion product suite to recognize the data type it is dealing with; as a result, the integration brokers can perform business rules upon the business object. The integration broker can inspect certain fields and values, route the business object to multiple destinations based on the content of these fields and transform the fields to other values or to completely new business objects using data transformation functions contained within the integration broker. The AppFusion product portfolio includes: Application Integrator, the transformation engine has a process for performing data transformation via a one-pass process. The one-pass process enables it to handle data transformation in a real time manner to facilitate speed. Application Integrator supports XML, EDI and user defined file formats including ODBC databases and is fully internationalized to provide support for multi-byte character sets. GE InterLinx, a multipurpose integration broker that provides a platform upon which clients can centralize, expand, and manage their Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) and electronic commerce integration requirements. GE InterLinx allows clients to implement a flexible, standard method for integrating their new ERP systems with their legacy applications, extending those applications for e-commerce, integrating their web applications with ERP and legacy systems, and streamlining their entire supply-chain. www.geis.com

Moai announced support for XML in its LiveExchange Solutions. In announcing its support, Moai has introduced Dynamic Commerce Markup Language (DCML), a standard XML implementation for online negotiated exchanges that includes auctions, trading exchanges and negotiated procurement markets. This standard allows LiveExchange customers to more easily and quickly develop solutions that exchange data with existing legacy systems and other trading networks. DCML augments Moai’s Java-based OpenAPI as an additional mechanism to access LiveExchange based marketplaces. To add XML support to its LiveExchange solutions, Moai has defined DTDs developed specifically for online auctions, trading exchanges, and procurement markets. For example, DCML defines a document for an auction, which includes a product or service description, the type of auction (e.g. reverse, dutch, sealed bid), any reserve price, etc. Moai has channeled its extensive market expertise into defining its DCML standard for dynamic commerce. By defining and sharing the DCML standard, Moai will enable the interconnection of marketplaces that support XML for data interchange, whether these markets are implemented with LiveExchange or an alternate platform. For example, a customer could purchase items in one market and the information on the products would be automatically sent via DCML to a shipping exchange where carriers could bid on delivering those goods. These types of interconnected negotiated e-Commerce marketplaces streamline a customer’s workflow processes, providing a substantial savings in time and money. www.moai.com

Fatbrain.com introduced a new way for businesses to manage, market and distribute corporate information. Fatbrain.com’s Information Exchange product suite combines e-commerce, secure digital publishing technology known as eMatter, comprehensive professional bookstore, established print-on-demand infrastructure and distribution and fulfillment services to deliver a complete Web-based solution for outsourcing mission-critical internal and external corporate information. Despite long-rumored predictions of the paperless office, today virtually every corporation manages large amounts of external content, from books to technical and product documentation to a variety of internal corporate documents such as annual reports and employee handbooks, the vast majority of it still distributed on paper. For many corporations, the volume and complexity of managing all of this information is extremely costly and a distraction from their core business expertise. Using the Information Exchange product suite, corporations can now outsource the management, marketing and distribution of this information. Through the Information Exchange solution, all internal and external publications are cataloged, tracked, published and delivered via an easy-to-use, custom intranet-based or Internet Web site. Publications can be quickly and easily accessed through searching and browsing tools and economical delivery options. The Information Exchange works like an online bookstore for corporate publications, newsletters, research reports, marketing and sales brochures, product manuals, white papers, and other internal publications. In addition, the Information Exchange can provide convenient access to a world-class selection of professional books and resources including Web-based training and certification programs — the same selection available from Fatbrain.com’s popular online store. www.fatbrain.com

Through the ACORD standards-setting process, both Property/Casualty and Life subcommittees have voted to adopt the first insurance industry standard XML transactions. Called ACORD XML for P&C Insurance and ACORD XML for Life Insurance, the transaction standards adopted have been developed through a cooperative process involving hundreds of organizations from the insurance and related financial services industries. ACORD XML is based on existing ACORD standards, thereby easing migration to XML, a cross-industry e-commerce standard for business-to-business and business-to-consumer transactions. The ACORD XML initiatives focus on defining a set of standards detailing interfaces, data, and error processing relevant to insurance business functions. These standards enable real-time exchange of information and integration of systems used in day-to-day operations for processing insurance. They enable insurance carriers to face the challenge of providing a single set of views or interfaces into their supporting back-end systems. The P&C adoption includes several XML business messages that enable the real-time exchange of quote and application transactions for personal and commercial lines of insurance over the Internet. Included in the adoption is the Interactive Financial Exchange (IFX) specification, which provides a standard framework architecture to ensure interoperability among multiple trading partners using IFX. The ACORD P&C Transaction Review Board has provided business and technical expertise from organizations such as PMSC, The Hartford, AMS, Travelers, Microsoft, SAFECO, IVANS, National Grange Mutual, Applied Systems, Ontos, and Symmetry Technology Labs. Currently several other working groups are developing additional transactions for use in the insurance industry and in dealing with trading partners. www.acord.org

OnDisplay, Inc. announced that it will deliver a free business-to-business XML server software for any organization that needs to establish secure, guaranteed exchange with online trading partners. Called XML Connect, the new product enables the exchange of XML business documents — such as purchase orders, invoices, and order confirmations — seamlessly and securely with any other XML Connect user, as well as with users of OnDisplay’s CenterStage eBizXchange product. OnDisplay believes that by seeding the market with XML Connect, the company will greatly accelerate the adoption of XML and B2B commerce. Shipping now in limited partner release, XML Connect will be generally available on March 30, 2000, as a free download from the XML Connect web site (www.xmlconnect.net) and from OnDisplay’s web site. The product will include free online support. The new XML server will support all of the XML schemas on the market. XML Connect also allows B2B e-commerce participants to set up secure connections with their trading partners without the need to purchase and install proprietary software on both ends of the trading partner connection. The new XML Connect product provides guaranteed, secure, real-time delivery of business documents over the Internet. It consists of an XML-based messaging server with an open, published API and supporting documentation. Customers who deploy XML Connect will be able to upgrade their implementations to OnDisplay’s CenterStage eBizXchange easily and seamlessly. CenterStage eBizXchange provides scalable B2B integration capabilities for organizations that need to rapidly connect with hundreds or thousands of trading partners simultaneously. Leveraging the CenterStage 4 platform for “many to many, any to any” B2B integration, CenterStage eBizXchange provides: www.ondisplay.com