First Initiative of New Service to Connect Corporate Buyers
To More Than 5,000 Suppliers
Alliance Also Announces That Beyond.com is Using Netscape ECXpert to Conduct
Business With Customers Over the Internet
PALO ALTO, Calif., and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 26 /PRNewswire/ -- The
Sun-Netscape Alliance today unveiled the Catalog Management Service, an
innovative initiative that will provide buyers using Netscape(R) BuyerXpert
e-commerce application with access to high quality catalog content from their
suppliers. This new offering is the first initiative of the Sun-Netscape
Alliance Supplier Network, a new set of services that enables buyers to
purchase products and services from more than 5,000 suppliers that offer more
than three million products.
The Catalog Management Service provides buyers with four service options
for obtaining high-quality catalog content data from suppliers. First, buyers
can access catalog content directly from the suppliers' Web sites using the
Open Buying on the Internet (OBI) standard. Second, buyers can receive catalog
feeds directly from suppliers in a standard way based on Extensible Mark-up
Language (XML). Third, the Alliance is offering simple, useful supplier
content to Netscape BuyerXpert customers in conjunction with Aspect
Development. Finally, a custom catalog management service will be available
to Netscape BuyerXpert customers through Aspect Development and Harbinger.
The Alliance Supplier Network will provide products in categories such as
maintenance, repair and operating items, office supplies, laboratory supplies
and computer software and hardware. Companies including Aspect Development,
Beyond.com, Boise Cascade Office Products, BT Office Products, CompuCom,
Harbinger, Office Depot, RoweCom, SciQuest.com and Staples have agreed to be
charter members.
"With the Catalog Management Service and the Supplier Network,
Sun-Netscape Alliance customers who uses Netscape(R) BuyerXpert will find any
product they need quicker and easier than ever," said Steve Savignano, senior
vice president of the application products division for the Sun-Netscape
Alliance. "Together these offerings for procurement, selling and commerce
exchange give Alliance customers a competitive advantage and reinforce the
Alliance as a leading provider of e-commerce products."
Beyond.com Using Netscape ECXpert
The Alliance also announced that Internet software superstore Beyond.com,
a charter member of the new program, is also using Netscape(R) ECXpert to
streamline its Internet business. Using Netscape ECXpert, Beyond.com is
building a network to streamline commerce transactions with key corporate
customers. By implementing ECXpert on the Beyond.com superstore, Netscape
BuyerXpert customers will be able to seamlessly integrate their procurement
solutions with Beyond.com's more than 44,000 software and digital products
across 100 categories. More than 5,600 of these products are available for
immediate, digital delivery.
"Beyond.com's relationship with the Sun-Netscape Alliance will enable our
corporate customers to save time and money through the online ordering and
digital delivery of software," said Alan DeClerck, vice president of worldwide
sales at Beyond.com.
Access to the Catalog Management Service
Access to the Catalog Management Service is available today through the
Alliance and its partners. The XML catalog feeds and packaged offering of
supplier content is expected to be available by midsummer. The Alliance
Supplier Network is open to any supplier and does not require purchasing
Sun-Netscape Alliance software to participate.
About the Sun-Netscape Alliance
America Online, Inc. (NYSE: AOL) and Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdq: SUNW)
formed the Sun-Netscape Alliance to provide easy to deploy, comprehensive
enterprise and e-commerce solutions to business partners and other companies
competing in today's Net Economy. The Alliance product portfolio provides
customers with the industry's most scalable, integrated infrastructure
software and a family of production ready e-commerce applications. The
products are offered on the industry's most widely available product
platforms, including DEC, HP, IBM, Linux, SGI, Microsoft Windows, and Sun.
The Alliance software product portfolio includes: messaging and calendar,
collaboration, Web, application, directory, and certificate servers. The
Alliance also offers a family of production-ready applications for e-commerce,
including commerce exchange, procurement, selling, and billing.
About America Online, Inc
Founded in 1985, America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia, is the
world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies, and
e-commerce services. America Online, Inc. operates: two worldwide Internet
services, America Online, with more than 17 million members, and CompuServe,
with approximately 2 million members; several leading Internet brands
including ICQ and Digital City, Inc.; the Netscape Netcenter and AOL.COM
portals; and the Netscape(R) Navigator and Netscape(R) Communicator browsers.
Through its strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems, the Company develops and
offers easy-to-deploy, end-to-end e-commerce and enterprise solutions for
companies operating in the Net Economy.
About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, "The Network is The
Computer(TM)," has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. to its position as a
leading provider of high quality hardware, software and services for
establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the
Internet. With more than $11 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in
more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com.
SOURCE Netscape
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CONTACT:
Kristen Hyland of the Sun-Netscape Alliance,
650-937-6053, or kristenh@netscape.com
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