Category: Marketing & e-commerce (Page 64 of 77)

Sun Microsystems, Inc. announced that its Forte Fusion enterprise application integration (EAI) suite will feature enhanced support for XML and Java-based technologies that have emerged as the foundation for standards-based e-commerce solutions. Fusion uses an XML-based integration backbone and XSL for data integration. In addition, Sun announced that Forte Fusion will be enhanced to support Java technology-based adapters and Sun’s Java Message Queue 1.0 enterprise messaging software, giving customers increased access to open technologies to dot-com their businesses. The Fusion XSLT Data Transformation Engine employs XSLT to solve the core data transformation problem at the heart of any EAI solution. To support the development of XSLT rules, the Fusion Workshop for XSLT provides a graphical interactive workshop for authoring and testing. These XSLT capabilities will be available in the beta release of Forte Fusion 2.0 scheduled for the first quarter of 2000. During 2000, Forte Fusion will be enhanced to support Sun’s Java Message Queue 1.0 enterprise messaging software as a transport for its XML-based data integration backbone. Within Forte Fusion, messaging services are used to link separate applications into the Fusion backbone, which in turn provides services for data transformation and connectivity into the Fusion Business Process Engine. Fusion’s Java Message Queue support will complement existing support for HTTP and IBM’s MQSeries. In the Forte Fusion architecture, adapters are application wrappers whose sole purpose is to XML-enable applications that are not equipped with native XML support. Adapters connect to the Fusion backbone through a message transport, while the backbone provides semantic integration through the transformation of XML with XSL rules. This approach ensures that adapters are lightweight, quick to develop and reusable as general-purpose XML adapters. www.forte.com/product/fusion

Percussion Software introduced Percussion XSplit, a free utility for converting HTML into XML and XSL. XSplit meets the demands of organizations that need a simple and effective way of transforming thousands of Web-based HTML pages into XML for e-commerce and other applications. With XSplit, developers can easily create the XML and XSL equivalents of their HTML pages without investing a lot of time learning XML or writing the pages by hand. This is a critical need of most organizations, since the majority of Web content is currently HTML-based. This patent-pending technology is a key component of Percussion’s recently announced XML Data Server product, Rhythmyx, which dynamically serves structured data from relational databases into Web pages. Rhythmyx is one of the first products that makes use of XSL in a production environment and helps organizations benefit from XML today. After using XSplit to convert HTML to XML, Rhythmyx is the logical next step to make static applications dynamic without having to code or script. Percussion XSplit V1.0 is free for personal use and will be available in December 1999. Companies wishing to license the product for bundled distribution with their offerings should contact Percussion Software for terms and conditions. The utility runs on Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0. A free 30-day evaluation of Percussion Rhythmyx is available by registering at www.percussion.com/feel_the_rhythm

Personic Inc. announced its participation in the HR-XML Consortium. The HR-XML Consortium is a newly formed, independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the development and promotion of standardized, human-resources-related XML vocabularies for enabling e-commerce and the automation of inter-company exchanges of human resources data.Using industry-standard XML vocabularies, one company is able to transact with countless other companies without needing to design, engineer, and install a multitude of separate interchange mechanisms. As a member of the HR-XML Consortium, Personic is developing technology to enable its core recruiting and hiring software to use XML. Personic is incorporating this communications technology into its core applications. Personic also partners with other organizations within the HR-XML Consortium to derive HR-XML (Human Resources Extensible Markup Language) standards. The HR-XML language provides standard definitions of data elements needed for an application to perform standardized Human Resources transactions and communicate with other applications using HR-XML. Through the HR-XML Consortium, more than 20 software and services suppliers have already endorsed three XML schemas designed to enable a new generation of Web-based workforce management and recruiting services that are based on open, e-commerce models and deliver employers greater ROI for their staffing expenditures. This will give HR and staffing vendors new opportunities for growth and profit. With a common medium of exchange, customers need not expend extra energy maintaining and updating proprietary interfaces. They save on costs and can dramatically reduce integration/maintenance efforts. HR-XML standardization shortens time for everyone involved in the recruiting and hiring process. www.personic.com

Ariba, Inc. jointly announced a strategic partnership to provide end-to-end business-to-business e-commerce application services. Under the agreement, USi will provide Ariba solutions to mid-sized and large-sized companies through the ASP model. The comprehensive partnership includes product development, application implementation and management services, and cooperative sales and marketing. Under terms of the agreement, USi is a preferred ASP for Ariba solutions, and will introduce a new service offering based on the hosted Ariba ORMX application. USi will integrate the Ariba ORMX solution with its Internet Managed Application Provider (iMAP) portfolio as part of a complete eCommerce offering to its existing and future customer base. USi will actively market, sell, deliver and support this new service. Clients will pay a flat monthly fee to receive the Ariba ORMX application as an iMAP service while gaining access to the comprehensive functionality of the Ariba Network eCommerce platform. Suppliers to Ariba ORMX-equipped buyers can use USi’s sell-side e-commerce services to transact with buyers through the Ariba Network platform using the cXML (Commerce Extensible Markup Language) standard. www.ariba.com

Acxiom Corporation the Acxiom Data Network now supports XML as its basis for providing InfoBase data products over the Internet to qualified, registered businesses. The addition of XML, a flexible document format for the Web, now allows developers to integrate the Acxiom Data Network with multiple languages and platforms. Developers now have the option of integrating Acxiom Data Network technology with ActiveX/COM objects on Windows platforms or writing their own interface with any platform and language that supports XML. In addition to support of the XML format, a new Acxiom Data Network software development kit, SDK 1.3, was recently made available. This new kit enables developers to integrate the functionality of Acxiom’s InfoBase data products including InfoBase TeleSource, InfoBase Profiler and InfoBase Enhancement into their own applications. Applications can access Acxiom data products in a real-time, on-demand environment simply by utilizing the same software programs companies use everyday for decision support, marketing automation, contact management and sales force automation. www.acxiomdatanetwork

Stack Overflow AG announced the commercial availability of the Mozquito Factory, an XHTML authoring environment. XHTML bridges HTML with the power of XML, bringing richer Web pages and more flexible Web applications for a wide range of platforms and browsers: from desktop PCs to televisions to kiosks to automobiles and mobile devices. Written entirely in Java, the Mozquito Factory is a client-side, stand-alone authoring environment. The Mozquito Factory significantly reduces authoring costs for complex, highly dynamic Web interfaces — saving hundreds of hours of programming time. Built upon a modular framework, the Mozquito Factory combines three independent applications into a toolkit: Mozquito Engine: to enable current browsers, such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 4.0 and higher, to process the extensibility and display next-generation data formats and standards, including XML and XHTML; XHTML Validator: to automatically validate any XHTML or XML document, optimize markup, and invoke the Mozquito Engine upon successful validation to view the Web page; and Factory Editor: to author and edit highly dynamic XHTML, XML and forms-intensive Web sites without scripting or programming. With the Mozquito Factory, users no longer need to worry about incomplete implementations caused by the browser wars or tiresome cross-browser scripting in JavaScript/JScript/VBScript or Java Applet programming. Developers can now design and create online shops, eCommerce applications, quizzes, polls, questionnaires, games, calendars, order forms, surveys, administration interfaces and complex, dynamic Web pages in minutes. Download the Mozquito Factory for a free 30-day trial at www.mozquito.org, www.stackoverflow.com/

TSI International Software Ltd. announced that it has combined its Mercator integration broker software with its Novera Web application integration product to deliver a – B2B integration broker. As the first new offering from the recent acquisition of Novera Software, this product will provide TSI Software’s customers with comprehensive capabilities, including XML integration and transformation, for deploying complex B2B integration solutions quickly, easily and cost-effectively. Customers will be able to Internet-enable any application by exposing and transforming existing business process interfaces as XML messages to trading partners over public and private networks and leverage their existing IT infrastructure in new B2B e-commerce initiatives. Using Mercator, customers are able to transform directly between XML schemas and schemas for any new and legacy supported content type, including EDI, CII, S.W.I.F.T., HL7, ACORD, SAP, PeopleSoft and RDBMS. Mercator provides the tools for extending the integration of applications and business processes to trading partners using XML, while protecting IT investment in existing information systems. Mercator’s XML support, coupled with Novera for hosting component-based server applications for the Internet, enables eBusinesses to integrate complex business processes with trading partners over public and private networks. Mercator and Novera are available today. TSI Software plans to offer the B2B integration broker in Q1 2000. Pricing and packaging details will be announced at a later date. www.tsisoft.com