webMethods Supports Commerce XML to Foster Open Trading Communities

webMethods, Inc., a leading provider of XML-based business-to-business e-commerce and integration solutions, has announced its support for Commerce XML (cXML), an open XML-based standard aimed at facilitating e-commerce within trading communities. webMethods joins 40 leading companies, including Ariba Technologies, in the development of cXML, a suite of lightweight XML Document Type Definitions (DTDs) and their associated processes. This move aims to promote standard document types and develop open, interoperable trading networks.

Key Takeaways:

• webMethods will integrate support for cXML into its webMethods B2B product, enabling companies to achieve inter-enterprise application integration over the Internet with their customers, partners, and suppliers.
• The company will also extend its integration capabilities to the Global 2000 organizations that have deployed or need to integrate with the enterprise-class Ariba Operating Resource Management System (Ariba ORMS).
• Ariba ORMS is used by organizations that spend an aggregate total of more than $67 billion annually on operating resources.
• webMethods B2B is unique in its ability to interface with, consume, and translate XML documents conforming to different XML DTD sets, providing a truly flexible architecture for business-to-business application integration over the Internet.
• The company supports all major XML e-commerce initiatives and standards, including RosettaNet, cXML, Information & Content Exchange (ICE), and Open Buying on the Internet (OBI).
• webMethods B2B provides companies with a secure, scalable, and interoperable infrastructure that links their business processes with those of their key business partners.

Statistics:

• webMethods is named one of Red Herring's 1998 Top 50 Privately Held Companies.
• The company has delivered real business value to companies who want to leverage their investments in legacy, ERP, and Web-hosted applications to link their business processes with those of their key business partners.
• Leading companies, including DHL Airways, Hewlett-Packard, Dun and Bradstreet, Cisco Systems, 3Com, Orbital Sciences, and Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, use webMethods' award-winning products.

Sources:

• webMethods, "webMethods Supports Commerce XML to Foster Open Trading Communities" (PRNewswire, March 3)
• Ariba Technologies, "Ariba Technologies to Develop Commerce XML, an Open XML-Based Standard" (PRNewswire, March 1998)
• Red Herring, "Top 50 Privately Held Companies" (1998)
• webMethods website, www.webMethods.com