SOFTWARE Technologies Corp. (STC) is readying an adapter for its e-Gate platform that positions the Extensible Markup Language (XML) as a universal link that could allow for expanded, non-electronic data interchange (EDI) participation in supply-chain management via the Internet.

   ADVERTISEMENT
  

Free IT resource

Hear how top CIOs turn change into a competitive advantage.

Sponsored by HP

Free IT resource

Attend the SOA Executive Forum: Breaking SOA Bottlenecks SOAExecForum.com/may2007

Sponsored by InfoWorld

RELATED LINKS

IDG ENTERPRISE NETWORK
• More App Development News...  (ComputerWorld)
• JBoss buys former HP middleware  (ComputerWorld)

TOP NEWS 


IT SOLUTION SEARCH
Dubbed the "Universal Exchange," the add-on marks another step by STC into the time-sensitive, business-to-business electronic-commerce space, said James Demetriades, chairman, CEO, and president of STC, in Monrovia, Calif. "If your partners don't get the information in less than a second, they're going to go to someone else," Demetriades said. The add-on is aimed at clients who need to do far-flung, business-to-business links via e-Gate, he says.

Time and space constraints aside, wider acceptance of supply-chain management has been hindered by the high cost of EDI, especially for smaller suppliers that lack the resources for an EDI-based private network, said Tom Dwyer, an analyst at the Aberdeen Group, in Boston. The greater usage of XML will boost participation in supply chains, Dwyer said. "It's all about 100 percent participation," he says.

For instance, the Universal Exchange add-on will give suppliers a view into the levels of their inventories at customer sites. This could lead to suppliers managing the inventories of their customers, Dwyer said.

Pricing for the "Universal Exchange" add-on, due next quarter, has not been set, STC's Demetriades said. A prototype is being beta-tested at several sites, he added. A rearchitecting of STC's previous DataGate suite, E-Gate is built around a registry that continually updates servers on workflow, processing, or data-exchange commands.

The e-Gate 4.0 upgrade was released about two months ago.

Also embracing XML for electronic-business, Tibco Software is including an XML parser and validation capabilities with an upgrade of its Java-based TIB/MessageBroker 2.5, a major rules-based data-exchange and translation piece of the TIB/ActiveEnterprise messaging suite. There's also support for the HTTP and FTP Internet protocols as well as new links to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Transfers (SWIFT) network, used by financial institutions for back-office settlement.

"We see XML as a standard format for sending information between companies," said Satish Krishnamurtry, product manager at Tibco. "We also support not all, but a good subset, of the SWIFT messaging protocols."

Software Technologies Corp., in Monrovia, Calif., is at www.stc.com. Tibco Software Inc., in Palo Alto, Calif., is at www.tibco.com.