Alliance's Continued Support for RosettaNet Will Help Enable Collaborative
Business Processes for E-Commerce
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Furthering its commitment
to providing e-commerce applications and services that leverage the strengths
of XML, the Sun-Netscape Alliance today reaffirmed its support for the
RosettaNet consortium and other key organizations including CommerceNet,
XML.org or OASIS that are helping to define the industry's XML standards for
business-to-business electronic commerce processes. The Alliance also
described its plan to integrate XML support across its family of e-commerce
applications for commerce exchange, online procurement, online selling and
online bill presentment and payment.
In a related announcement, RosettaNet announced its commitment to
providing an XML standard for live product implementations by
February 2, 2000. The Sun-Netscape Alliance, which has executive
representation in the consortium, is supporting this timeline and has agreed
to collaborate with the other RosettaNet board members to align business
processes to support the organization's XML standard.
American Express' Global Procurement organization is testing an online
catalog solution that incorporates a beta version of RosettaNet s XML-based
Partner Interface Processes and Netscape ECXpert.
"American Express is supporting RosettaNet's objectives to build a common
language and architecture for e-commerce dialogue in business-to-business
procurement through participation as a buying organization in an eConcert
pilot," said Dan Himes, director of global procurement systems and support at
American Express. "The pilot incorporates support for XML and leverages
applications such as Netscape(R) ECXpert to enable online commerce exchanges."
"XML is a foundational step for companies to align their business
processes and improve interactions with partners and customers," said Steve
Savignano, vice president and general manager of the application products
division for the Sun-Netscape Alliance. "The Alliance's support for
RosettaNet and similar industry consortiums will help streamline adoption of
common XML standards to facilitate cross-company electronic commerce."
XML is designed to facilitate the exchange of online data and be flexible
to fit the individual needs of an enterprise. The language provides a medium
to identify Web content such as e-commerce transactions, catalogs with
multimedia content, text and pictures so that it can be read automatically.
Details of the Alliance's plans to implement industry-standard XML support
into its e-commerce applications follows.
* Commerce Exchange
Netscape ECXpert, an application that enables the exchange of commerce
information between business systems of the partners, supplier and customer,
will provide an XML interface for sending and receiving XML documents,
including support for implementing RosettaNet eConcert Partner Internet
Processes. The Alliance has built an XML interface within the Netscape
ECXpert application, providing native support for sending and receiving XML
documents. For example, upon receipt of an XML document, the XML interface
will invoke appropriate Netscape ECXpert functions and services so that the
relevant data within the XML document can be processed and exchanged with an
external partner or an internal application. Netscape ECXpert with XML
support will be available to customers this summer.
* Online Procurement and Selling
Netscape(R) BuyerXpert will leverage XML features within Netscape EXCpert
to help link a company's internal procurement function with the procurement
system of its external suppliers. Netscape BuyerXpert supports XML as a
standard mechanism for catalog content exchange.
The Alliance also has been working with the charter members of the
recently announced Sun-Netscape Alliance Supplier Network to define XML-based
catalog file exchange formats that would allow customers to receive catalog
feeds directly from suppliers in a standard way. Supplier catalog content
will be available in XML format for Netscape BuyerXpert customers this summer
via the Sun-Netscape Alliance Supplier Network.
Netscape(R) SellerXpert, a powerful business-to-business online selling
application, will support XML by leveraging Netscape ECXpert's capabilities.
The Alliance plans to unveil its complete XML strategy for online selling in
the near future.
* Online Bill Presentment and Payment
Netscape(R) BillerXpert today standardizes on XML for all data loading
including membership, account data and billing data as it is translated from
print streams. The Alliance plans to expand its use of XML within Netscape
BillerXpert for greater interoperability with other applications and greater
flexibility in meeting customized presentation needs in vertical markets.
About the Sun-Netscape Alliance
America Online, Inc. and Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: 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 Navigator(R) and Navigator(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://www.sun.com.
About America Express
As a buyer in the Information Technology arena, American Express' Global
Procurement organization is committed to leveraging electronic commerce to
improve the purchasing process. A recognized leader in strategic procurement
practices, American Express' Global Procurement organization is a founding
member of RosettaNet, and an active participant in a number of standards
organizations across many industries.
American Express Company is a diversified worldwide travel, financial and
network services company founded in 1850. It is a leader in charge and credit
cards, Travelers Cheques, travel, financial planning, investment products,
insurance and international banking.
SOURCE Sun-Netscape Alliance
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CONTACT:
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650-937-6053, or kristenh@netscape.com
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